Digitala Vetenskapliga Arkivet

CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf
Public-sector digital transformation in the age of generative AI
Stockholm University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Computer and Systems Sciences.ORCID iD: 0000-0001-6360-7641
2026 (English)In: Discover Artificial Intelligence, E-ISSN 2731-0809, Vol. 6, p. 1-23Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Digital transformation (DT) remains central to information systems and public administration scholarship, particularly amid the rapid emergence of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI). This study presents a systematic literature review of 125 peer-reviewed articles published between 2021 and 2026 to synthesise contemporary public-sector DT dynamics. Following the PRISMA 2020 reporting standard and thematic synthesis, the review maps conceptualisations of DT, identifies key organisational, technological and environmental drivers, and examines their implications for public value. The findings indicate that DT is predominantly conceptualised as a sociotechnical and public-value-oriented process shaped primarily by leadership, organisational culture and strategic alignment rather than technological investment alone. Organisational and managerial factors emerge as the most consistent predictors of transformation outcomes across diverse institutional contexts, while technological and environmental conditions influence the pace, direction and unevenness of implementation. Despite the rapid diffusion of AI and GenAI in government practice, only a limited proportion of the literature substantively engages with AI, and fewer studies address GenAI, large language models or foundation models, revealing a widening gap between technological developments and scholarly inquiry. Building on the established organisationaltechnological-environmental framework, the review identifies four additional explanatory dimensions: citizen co-production, digitally induced administrative burden, street-level administrative reconfiguration, and multidimensional public-value evaluation. The study concludes by identifying priorities for future research on GenAI governance, accountability and equity, while offering practical implications for public managers and policymakers pursuing AI-enabled public-sector transformation.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2026. Vol. 6, p. 1-23
Keywords [en]
Digital transformation, Public sector, Artificial intelligence, Generative AI, Public value, Digital government
National Category
Information Systems
Research subject
Computer and Systems Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:su:diva-259014DOI: 10.1007/s44163-026-02077-3Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-105048858629OAI: oai:DiVA.org:su-259014DiVA, id: diva2:2097780
Available from: 2026-09-02 Created: 2026-09-02 Last updated: 2026-09-08

Open Access in DiVA

fulltext(1543 kB)52 downloads
File information
File name FULLTEXT01.pdfFile size 1543 kBChecksum SHA-512
1854eb0a96fbe6142cc8f560ab9d54697397c59ffae3a45a5986abfee638cc3b06374ffa81a92329b4d316739d3896a114e9ff49326f64ff391e3f0736ac26a3
Type fulltextMimetype application/pdf

Other links

Publisher's full textScopusLänk till publikationen

Search in DiVA

By author/editor
Jonathan, Gideon Mekonnen
By organisation
Department of Computer and Systems Sciences
In the same journal
Discover Artificial Intelligence
Information Systems

Search outside of DiVA

GoogleGoogle Scholar
The number of downloads is the sum of all downloads of full texts. It may include eg previous versions that are now no longer available

doi
urn-nbn

Altmetric score

doi
urn-nbn
Total: 86 hits
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf