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Little research links knowledge management to government institutions. Knowledge management is viewed primarily as value-added for managing business organizations. The information and communication technology (ICT) use in government institutions is often limited to composing a Web page and posting information.

The aim of this paper is to analyze impactful methods to address citizens who are excluded from digital transformation. These are citizens whose digital engagement in political decision-making and e-services is hindered by their lack of access to technological benefits, a lack of awareness of digital issues, and/or a lack of digital literacy and skills. With the unprecedented speed of digital developments in many countries around the world, digital vulnerability affects not only specific demographics or what we may have traditionally considered vulnerable (e.g., older people) but anybody who could be digitally vulnerable due to their circumstances. The more deeply affected are those societies that are extra vulnerable and already damaged, such as economically, in terms of security, or due to war. Therefore, the case studies of this paper focus on Ukraine and Georgia, where digital development has been relatively rapid and there has been a lot of emphasis on e-services; however, less attention has been paid to addressing the digital divide and social aspects of these countries. Applying the theory of change, design thinking, and service and process design is not a new or revelatory approach; however, these concepts have, so far, been applied primarily in the business sector. This study argues that this approach could be successfully implemented in other sectors of society and by various stakeholders to tackle arduous challenges and problems. The current extraordinary circumstances occurring in Ukraine, but also the context of Georgia, increase the need for a novel approach to tackle digital vulnerability. Thus, this paper analyzes how a business-like approach, which is a new concept in the countries included in this study, helps to impactfully identify the most vulnerable citizens, and how to design processes, services, and policies to empower and engage with these citizens.

The current world is facing unprecedented crises and wicked problems that need solving. Even if some of them might affect our life more right now and in the short term (e.g., global security crisis, energy crisis, etc.), the biggest challenge for societies for years to come is climate change. Digital solutions have the potential to offer relief and solutions to various problems, including climate challenges, but the biggest concern is still the large gap between policymakers and people's concerns and expectations. Future developments should not only be guided by the technologically feasible but by what is socially desirable and acceptable. Therefore, the citizens’ engagement, particularly digital crowdsourcing, for the design of digital services, as well as policies that affect their lives, is crucial.To understand the usage of crowdsourcing for policy-design purposes, we have piloted a crowdsourcing activity in five European countries on the subject of air quality. To assess the results of the pilot, we use a novel e-participation assessment framework created by the joint effort of the e-Governance Academy and the project partners of the Co-Designing Europe Project . The assessment framework was created based on extensive analyses of e-participation cases from various countries and contexts using the Theory of Change (ToC) methodology. The framework also has a practical checklist which enables any initiator of e-participation - be it from a public authority or from the civil society, to design an e-participation/crowdsourcing activity and assess its impact after completing the case. The aim of this article is, based on theory and practice, to highlight and analyse the biggest challenges, obstacles, and success factors for impactful crowdsourcing, the potential to use the “wisdom of the crowd” to solve wicked problems in society, and the role technology plays in this process.