Vol. 10 (2026): Special Issue: Digital Trust and Cyber Resilience

Guest Editor:  Patrycja KRAUZE-MAŚLANKOWSKA, University of Gdańsk, Poland

Vol. 10, Special Issue (2026) of the Smart Cities and Regional Development Journal brings together interdisciplinary contributions examining the growing importance of cybersecurity, digital trust, institutional resilience, and intelligent technologies in contemporary urban and regional development. The issue explores how increasingly interconnected digital systems create new opportunities for innovation and efficiency while introducing vulnerabilities that require effective governance, technological safeguards, and institutional preparedness.

Cybersecurity and digital resilience form the central focus of the volume. The opening contribution examines advanced penetration testing techniques for strengthening web application security, emphasizing continuous vulnerability assessment and risk mitigation. This technical perspective is complemented by research on cyber governance, disinformation, and digital trust, drawing lessons from the 2022 Ukraine conflict to illustrate the importance of institutional coordination and strategic communication during crises.

Further contributions investigate the challenges of cyber-resilient Industry 4.0, highlighting digital system failures, algorithmic bias, and the governance requirements of sustainable smart cities. The issue also examines cybersecurity public policies in Ukraine and explores the relationship between public integrity, institutional accountability, and cyber resilience within European smart city governance.

Beyond cybersecurity, the volume addresses the practical applications of advanced computational methods. Research on artificial intelligence-based anomaly detection in multimodal urban mobility demonstrates the potential of intelligent data processing to improve transportation systems, while a study on mathematical optimization in agricultural logistics illustrates how sophisticated decision-support techniques can enhance operational coordination and resource efficiency.

Taken together, these contributions demonstrate that digital transformation cannot be understood exclusively through technological advancement. Secure infrastructures, trustworthy institutions, responsible algorithmic decision-making, and resilient governance frameworks are equally essential. The special issue therefore contributes to an interdisciplinary understanding of how smart cities and regions can integrate technological innovation with security, accountability, sustainability, and long-term institutional resilience.