The International Conference on Perspectives in Business Informatics Research (BIR) is dedicated to business informatics, business information systems and information systems engineering. It aims to support knowledge exchange between experienced and junior researchers, practitioners and industry professionals by considering both fundamental research and application-driven studies.

The 24th BIR conference, hosted by Riga Technical University, focuses on the theme “Bridging knowledge, process, and systems for responsible digital transformation” It explores how integrating knowledge management, process modeling, and information systems—with AI and smart technologies—can drive innovation and efficiency while ensuring ethical, sustainable, and inclusive practices. The conference traditionally attracts co-located workshops which encourage exchanging ideas and foster collaboration on topics related to business information systems.

The global momentum of digital transformation within the public sector presents a paradox—while promising enhanced service delivery and operational efficiency, it simultaneously exposes governments to vulnerabilities stemming from reliance on transnational digital infrastructures and private technology providers. This study addresses the critical gap in understanding how digital transformation initiatives intersect with digital sovereignty concerns, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Employing a case study research strategy focusing on two LMICs, this study investigates the complex interplay between public sector digital transformation strategies and the preservation of national digital sovereignty. The findings highlight the urgent need for a coherent framework that aligns digital transformation goals with sovereignty objectives to mitigate risks related to data sovereignty (data control, cyber security), technological sovereignty, and policy autonomy. The findings of the study contribute to a nuanced understanding of the challenges and opportunities in achieving successful but sovereign digital transformation in LMICs contexts.

This study investigates the barriers and drivers of digital transformation within the European Union's (EU) Agencies, focusing on one of the European Commission’s (EC) decentralised agencies. As digital technologies evolve rapidly, EU agencies face unique challenges and opportunities in integrating emerging technologies into their operations. The research employs a qualitative case study utilising semi-structured interviews to gather rich, detailed insights. The findings reveal that strategic alignment, leadership commitment, and technological infrastructure significantly influence the success of digital transformation initiatives. However, challenges such as resistance to change, regulatory constraints, and resource limitations determine the pace and effectiveness of transformation efforts. This research contributes to further our understanding of digital transformation in the public sector and offers practical insights for EU agencies. By highlighting the EU agency's specific conditions, the study provides a foundation for policy and strategy development to enhance digital capabilities across the European public sector. The findings also further our understanding of the complexities of managing digital transformation within highly regulated environments like the EU, offering a roadmap for future research and practice in the public sector.

Modern service delivery in the public sector hinges on digital transformation, yet many government efforts fail to achieve de-sired outcomes due to various challenges. While digital transformation across sectors and industries inherently faces hurdles, the extant literature emphasises the critical role of context-specific challenges and enablers. This study explores the ongoing digital transformation of Ethiopia’s Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MOFED). Adopting a case study research strategy with interviews and document analysis as data collection methods, we identified several factors determining digital transformation success in public organisations. Presented in three categories—governance-related, technological, and organisational and managerial—these factors illuminate the challenges faced by MOFED, a large government ministry, in its digitaliation journey.

Our findings contribute to both research and practice by offering insights into the interplay between integrating new technologies with existing systems and processes while navigating the complex stakeholder landscape within a public sector environment.

Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) is a subject of intense interest among researchers and practitioners in the public sector, offering the prospect of transforming public administration through automation and improved efficiency. However, there is a lack of comprehensive synthesis of the growing body of literature exploring this technology's multifaceted impact on the sector. To contribute to the growing discourse and bridge the existing literature gap, this research undertook a synthesis of 25 recent studies, analysing the potential benefits, challenges, and strategies for effective GenAI implementation in public organisations. The result of our study indicates that while GenAI offers opportunities to streamline bureaucratic processes, improve service delivery, and enhance decision-making, organisations face various challenges as they implement GenAI. The most common challenges include ethical concerns, regulatory compliance, data privacy, workforce resistance, and transparency issues. These findings call for robust AI governance frameworks, human oversight of GenAI systems, organisational readiness strategies, and continued investment in AI literacy. Future research is necessary to further our understanding of GenAI and how public organisations can realise its benefits. To this end, we propose longitudinal studies evaluating specific GenAI applications and their long-term impact, governance framework development, and methods to enhance GenAI explainability and mitigate bias in public administration contexts.

Digital transformation promises strategic and operational benefits for organisations regardless of size, sector, or industry. However, its antecedents and value realisation mechanisms are highly context-dependent, influenced by factors within and beyond an organisation. While the focus of prior digital transformation studies seems to be on for-profit and relatively well in public organisations, the challenges for

non-profit organisations (NPOs) remain under-investigated. Based on a systematic literature review and a case study in one Swedish NPO, this study reveals digital transformation barriers within NPOs. The barriers identified through thematic analysis encompass internal and external

environmental factors grounded in recent digital transformation frameworks. The study contributes to the literature on digital transformation

specific to NPOs. Practitioners can also use these insights to inform the development of robust strategies and the effective implementation of their digital transformation initiatives.

The rapid shift to remote work, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, has fundamentally altered the way we do work. The experience during and post-COVID-19 indicates that remote work is revolutionising IT project management, demanding a fundamental shift towards digitally-driven collaboration and communication to preserve productivity and team cohesion. The complexities of managing geographically dispersed teams across diverse time zones necessitate heightened flexibility and adaptability, propelling a transition towards agile project management methodologies that prioritize responsiveness and continuous improvement. However, despite a growing interest in remote work, research specifically investigating its impact on the effectiveness of IT projects remains limited. In response to the call for further research and to fill the gap in the literature, this study examined how IT project management has evolved recently in relation to the wide adoption of the remote work paradigm. Employing a qualitative case study research strategy and semi-structured interviews as a data collection method, the research aimed to answer two research questions: How has the increase in remote work impacted IT projects? and How have project managers responded to the increase in remote work? The results of the study identified several changes as the result of remote work that have implications for IT project management practices presented under five categories, i.e., communications and collaboration, technological proficiency, team performance and cultural awareness, adaptation and flexibility, and leadership. These findings offer valuable insights for organisations transitioning to remote work and IT project managers seeking to enhance their remote project management capabilities.

Research suggests that the anticipated benefits of digital transformation are realised when organisations demonstrate dynamic capabilities—the ability to integrate, adapt, and reconfigure both internal and external resources. These capabilities enable organisations to meet the demands of today's dynamic technological, political, and business environment. One such capability is the extent to which employees can anticipate and effectively respond to significant internal and external changes. This phenomenon, referred to as workforce agility, has been recognised as a key determinant of how digital transformation strategies are planned and appropriately executed. However, a closer examination of the existing literature reveals that the relationship between workforce agility and digital transformation remains largely unexplored, particularly within the public sector context. Thus, this study set out to contribute to the limited literature on public sector digital transformation by focusing on organisational agility and two related constructs—organisational structure and transformational leadership. Employing PLS-SEM analysis on data from 392 public sector respondents, the findings offer empirical support for the significant direct influence of workforce agility and organisational structure in driving successful digital transformation. The results confirm that well-defined yet flexible organisational structures support the adoption of digital technologies and foster workforce agility, which in turn facilitates digital transformation. Furthermore, the study reveals that transformational leadership significantly strengthens the positive impact of workforce agility on digital transformation, highlighting its role in cultivating an environment where employees actively contribute to digital initiatives. Interestingly, however, the moderating effect of transformational leadership on the direct relationship between organisational structure and digital transformation was not statistically significant, suggesting that a robust organisational structure may provide a sufficient foundation for digital transformation, potentially minimising the additional direct influence of leadership on this specific link. The study's contributions to both research and practice are presented, offering nuanced insights into the interplay of structure, agility, and leadership in public sector digital transformation.

The use of emerging digital technologies in the healthcare industry has been one of the developments embraced by most national governments and regional bodies, including the European Commission. Long-term plans were drafted to guide the industry-wide adoption of such technologies, including electronic healthcare management systems and applications like telesurgery. These plans recognise the daunting nature of digital transformation and the overwhelming organisational changes needed to realise the anticipated benefits. Unfortunately, in 2020, the outbreak of COVID-19 brought unprecedented urgency to rapidly adopt digital technologies, disrupting routines and existing work processes. This phenomenology study, based on data collected through interviews with nurses and medical doctors, aims to show how this forced digital transformation turned out and which lessons could be taken. The findings indicate that the most significant of the changes, from physical consultations to telemedicine, was embraced readily by patients, while it was viewed unfavourably by some of the healthcare providers. However, the attitude of healthcare providers towards the use of digital technologies has improved since the pandemic. On the other hand, the rapid adoption of digital technologies has also revealed challenges that need to be overcome to realise the full benefits of the transformation. Among others, these challenges include competent workforce shortages and resistance to change.