Introduction to the special section on digital government and sustainable development goals: SDGs as a key challenge for digital government research

More than two decades of research and policy on the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in the public sector have established the potential benefits of digital government, including efficiency gains, improved service provision, and increased citizen engagement. The evolving landscape of digital government now intersects with the global challenge of sustainability, as outlined in the UN' 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Technological innovations, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), and blockchain, offer new possibilities for achieving these goals. However, research on the relationship between digital government and sustainability has been limited and fragmented. To address this, future research should explore the links between digital government and each SDG, expand theoretical depth, and develop benchmarking indicators for sustainability. Two articles in this special section of Information Polity contribute to this research area by examining the institutional and environmental impacts of digital government and the role of digital skills in achieving the SDGs. As the world focuses on sustainability, there is a growing need for well-founded research on the role of digital government in advancing the SDGs.