Institutional Transformation Toward the Development of Smart Governance
Keywords:
Institutional transformation, smart governance, digitalization, organizational learning, smart governmentAbstract
Objective: This study aimed to examine the dimensions and mechanisms of institutional transformation toward the development of smart governance through a systematic review and qualitative content analysis.
Methods and Materials: This research employed a qualitative systematic review design based on inductive content analysis. Data were collected from 12 peer-reviewed articles published between 2015 and 2025 in major databases including Scopus, Web of Science, and ScienceDirect. The analysis was conducted using Nvivo version 14, following three stages of open, axial, and selective coding to identify major themes and categories associated with institutional transformation in smart governance.
Findings: The qualitative findings revealed three main themes: “institutional structural transformation,” “technological and digital transformation,” and “participatory and learning-based governance.” The results indicated that reengineering processes, digitizing public services, fostering digital culture, and institutionalizing organizational learning are key enablers for building smart governments. The interaction among these three dimensions enhances agility, transparency, accountability, and institutional legitimacy, thus creating the foundation for data-driven, technology-enabled, and multi-actor collaborative governance.
Conclusion: Institutional transformation serves as the cornerstone for achieving smart governance and requires the redefinition of structures, processes, and organizational culture based on technology, learning, and participation. The findings can inform the design of context-specific institutional transformation models in public and governmental organizations, facilitating the transition from traditional bureaucracy to intelligent, data-oriented, and citizen-centered governance.
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