GUEST EDITORS: • Peter Nijkamp, Open University, Heerlen, (The Netherlands); email: pnijkamp1[at]gmail.com; • Ioana-Maria Costea, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi (Romania), Faculty of Law; email: ioana.costea[at]uaic.ro; • Aura-Elena Amironesei, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi (Romania), Faculty of Law; email: elena.amironesei[at]uaic.ro. SUBMISSION GUIDELINES: • The papers should to be submitted by e-mail to: ejes@uaic.ro (with the mention: Special Issue on DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY), by September 30th, 2024 (early submissions are welcome and encouraged); • Each paper will follow the usual strict review procedure of the journal; • The contributors are required to follow the authors’ guidelines. RATIONALE Every economy, every region, every city is impacted profoundly by digital technology. Due to its capacity to capture vast amounts of data and uncertain strategic information, digital technology has not only improved the speed and efficiency of our operations, from routine to advanced ones, but it has also broadened our understanding of complicated phenomena and enlarged our scientific vision. In a world that is increasingly faced with many uncertainties, the use of ICT-based knowledge and hitherto unknown information is a sine qua non for sustainability and resilience. The immense potential of artificial intelligence (AI), encompassing research instruments such as computer visioning, deep learning, machine learning, natural language processing, and computational neural networks, has drawn significant interest in recent years, particularly in the realm of decision-making, innovation and research. Applications are found in nearly every field, from infrastructure planning to healthcare policy. AI has contributed significantly to an enhanced foundation of operational and strategic decisions in both the private and public sector, and is often regarded as a critical instrument for improving the resilience capacity of complex systems, by designing online early warning systems, new risk assessment tools like interactive policy dashboards, and adaptive visionary decision-making tools (like metaverses). Thus, leveraging AI for resilience and adaptive policy becomes a great challenge, including disaster management and emergency response. Regional science is one area where artificial intelligence (AI) has plenty to offer. This discipline addresses the development of interdependent spatial systems (regions, cities, infrastructure, environment, communities) from a multi-faceted perspective. The data- driven approach of regional science requires sophisticated analytical tools; big data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) are becoming more and more prominent in this regard, in addition to spatial statistics and spatial econometrics. It is therefore, pertinent for vitality in regional science to address the innovative capacity of AI in the context of research on cities and regions. Admittedly, the wide-spread application potential of AI has also its drawbacks, like endangerment of privacy, or lack of control on data reliability, in particular when it comes to the output of AI. In order to prevent negative externalities from overshadowing the benefits of AI applications, new regulatory mechanisms and rules on privacy protection, confidentiality requirements, and fake information are required. These must be implemented gradually. This may also hold for new advances and applications in regional science. Nonetheless, it is vital to keep in mind that there is an ongoing global race to develop, improve, and provide useful and acceptable artificial intelligence (AI) systems. Therefore, proposals for regulations on AI-related factors should not impede proper AI testing and development, as this is what keeps AI developers ahead of the competition and supports them in designing the best AI systems. Simultaneously, multiple nations across the globe as well as many organisations, including the European Union, began concentrating on the creation of an appropriate legal framework  specific for AI; at the same time, international agreements or memorandums started being signed between states to promote cooperation in the field of AI by exchanging information and developing it jointly. The legal environment surrounding AI as it exists now is open to both praise and criticism. Particular concerns center on legal provisions’ ability to foster the AI advancement and, consequently, its widespread use, including in regional science. This special issue of the Eastern Journal of European Studies seeks to explore the promising contribution of AI – including its data-analytical potential – to regional science development, while also recognizing its limitations and weaknesses. Concurrently, the legal landscape concerning AI systems is similarly closely related to topics from regional science, related data reliability and AI usage in this field; it even serves as a basis for addressing some of the challenges associated with AI systems that have hindered them from being used. Considering this, if deemed fit, that legal perspectives on AI use in regional planning be included in scholarly studies. Well-founded proposals for de lege ferenda provisions that address potential problems with AI applied to regional science are also useful. The various contributions in this special issue may be conceptual, empirical or planning-oriented in nature. They may be based on original fieldwork or on existing studies showcasing, for example, that AI can act as a catalyst for improved understanding of complex spatial planning phenomena.