Dear Friends,

We are pleased to announce the successful conclusion of the 38th Bled eConference.

Since Sunday, we have had the privilege of engaging with a wealth of inspiring presentations and thought-provoking discussions under this year’s theme: “Empowering Transformation: Shaping Digital Futures for All.”

The conference commenced with the Doctoral Consortium, where six PhD candidates presented their research projects and received valuable feedback from an international panel of experts.

The official opening session on Monday featured two outstanding keynote addresses.

Simon Delakorda emphasized the importance of democratic participation, human rights, and inclusive public policy in ensuring that digital transformation serves societal well-being—not just economic growth.

Henderik A. Proper explored the role of architectural coordination in the development of digital twins, addressing the socio-economic sustainability of digital innovation within broader information system ecosystems.

The opening continued with a compelling panel discussion on the evolving paradigm of data spaces—examining them from technological, sustainability, and humanistic viewpoints.

Over the course of three days, the conference hosted presentations of 44 full research papers and 6 research-in-progress papers, spanning a wide range of contemporary topics: Digital Health, Digital Education, Digital Consumer, AI & Data Science, Decision Analytics, Business Models, Digital Transformation of Public Services, Smart Sustainable Cities, Restructured Work, Digital Ethics and others.

We are proud to announce this year’s Outstanding Paper Awards:

“Towards a Unified Taxonomy for Digital Assistant Technologies: Addressing the Jingle-Jangle Fallacies” – Authors: Niklas Preiß (Sheffield Hallam University / Munich Business School) and Markus Westner (OTH Regensburg, Germany)

“AI-based Business Model Innovation: A ChatGPT Integration Approach” – Authors: Florian Bongard and Jürgen Moormann (Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, Germany)

The Outstanding Reviewer Award was presented to John van Meerten from HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht, The Netherlands.

This year’s Student Bazaar featured three international student teams from Slovenia and the Netherlands, who presented innovative ideas and prototypes. The jury and public vote unanimously selected this year’s winner of the René W. Wagenaar Student Bazaar: Jumiclusion – An Application to Improve Employment Opportunities for Persons with Special Needs in Slovenia, developed by Tamara Belec from the University of Maribor, Faculty of Organizational Sciences.”

Congratulations to all award recipients!

The conference also featured several high-impact workshops and events that enriched the program and fostered meaningful dialogue: Research for Impact in Digital Innovation, Strengthening the Ecosystem for Sustainable Student Mobility, and ForeDanube: Foresight for the Danube Region’s Future.

We extend our heartfelt thanks to all keynote speakers, authors, reviewers, track chairs, panelists, discussants, and participants for their valuable contributions and engagement. Your dedication and feedback continue to strengthen the Bled eConference community.

In the coming days, we will be sharing photos and highlights from the event on our website and social media channels.

We wish everyone a safe journey home and look forward to welcoming you again from 7 to 10 June 2026, here in beautiful Bled.

With sincere appreciation,

The Bled eConference Team