Selected Papers from the 31st European Social Services Conference 2023: Advancing Social Services—The Role of Technology in Promoting Autonomy and Inclusion

Dear Colleagues,

In collaboration with the 31st European Social Services Conference (ESSC) of the European Social Network, to be held in Malmö, Sweden, on 14–16 June 2023, we invite the submission of papers presented at the conference for inclusion in a Special Issue of Social Sciences. There will be no charge for papers submitted to the Special Issue. In line with the conference, the Special Issue will focus on accelerating the digital and technological transformation of social services by governments, public authorities, and agencies involved in their development. It will also discuss how technological advancements can help improve the delivery of social services by simplifying the access and sharing of information, enhancing coordination between services, encouraging early intervention, supporting decision-making, and promoting people’s autonomy and choice. The Special Issue seeks to gather theoretical, empirical and practical findings relating to this area of practice and study.

Only contributions already included in the conference programme can be accepted. The following article types are encouraged: brief report, case report, communication, essay, hypothesis, opinion, perspective, project report, and review. Authors can submit an abstract to the editors of the Special Issue in advance of submitting a full article so that the editors can provide initial feedback and opportunities to strengthen the submission. Abstracts can be submitted through the Special Issue website.

Potential themes of papers can focus on, but are not limited to, the following issues:

1. Technology/digitalisation promoting integrated care and support and system interoperability

• Promotion of social inclusion.
• Encouraging personal autonomy and empowering people.
• Enabling early intervention and the prevention of harm.

2. Technology improving the experience of people using services

• New digital solutions developed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Simple and effective solutions to bridge the digital divide and engage populations farthest from IT.
• Use of innovative technology to help communities thrive.
• Technology and IT system developments to promote personal autonomy.
• IT platforms to provide improved access to services.

3. Leveraging data

• Automating processes and systems.
• Building prevention strategies.
• Supporting evidence-based policymaking.
• Evaluating and improving services’ quality.
• Modernising child protection management systems.
• Modernising integrated long-term care.

4. Modernising organisations and supporting workforce development

• IT modernisation journey.
• Research-led technology developments in social services.
• Digital means and technology supporting professionals.
• Digital means and technology supporting informal carers and families/relatives of people using social services.
• Ethical standards for technology and data-driven processes and programmes.

Prof. Dr. Robin Miller
Dr. Andrzej Klimczuk
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Social Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.