ELECTRUST employed a two-step methodology to conduct research. Firstly, it established a solid theoretical foundation concerning trust, distrust, and their integration into the context of Internet voting and data-driven technologies. Secondly, it conducted case studies in countries where Internet voting has been utilized to understand the formation of trust and distrust. This approach reconceptualized trust and distrust as related yet distinct concepts, identifying various mechanisms for their construction.
The case study analysis supported the hypothesis that trust and distrust exhibit different patterns in relation to Internet voting, suggesting avenues for further research in other technologies. Trust is nurtured through positive user experiences, convenience, and existing institutional trust, while distrust arises from technical and political concerns. Additionally, several intriguing observations emerged: 1) some factors may simultaneously evoke trust and distrust; 2) failure in trust-evoking factors can breed distrust; 3) trust- and distrust-evoking factors extend beyond the election day, impacting the whole electoral cycle; 4) distrust-evoking strategies may ironically encourage technology adoption; and 5) various groups aimed at enhancing the quality of democracy may employ contrasting approaches to trust and distrust.
The findings of the ELECTRUST project were presented at 7 international research conferences, 2 practitioner conferences, an expert workshop, 4 university seminars, and 4 lectures organized on 3 continents. They were also published in 2 journal papers, 3 conference proceedings, and 2 edited books, summarized in the CORDIS result pack, and invited to the CORDIScovery podcast.
The work conducted helped the researcher earn the habilitation (DSc) degree in Political and Administrative Sciences and promote to Associate Professor. It also helped increase his visibility in the field; he is currently the General Chair of the E-Vote-ID Conference, President of the Thematic Group on Digital Sociology at the International Sociological Association, Program Chair at the International Conference on Digital Government Research, Track Chair at IFIP EGOV conference and Track Chair at the Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS). In addition, the researcher was also awarded MSCA Fellow of the Week.
