E-Government Research Analyzed Through Social Network Perspective: Patterns, Trends, and Future Directions
Abstract
This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of e-government research from a social network theory perspective. By systematically reviewing existing literature, it uncovers prevailing patterns and emerging trends that characterize the intersection of e-government initiatives and social networks. The study highlights how social network structures influence the adoption, implementation, and success of e-government services, emphasizing the role of connectivity, collaboration, and information exchange among stakeholders. Furthermore, it identifies gaps in current research and proposes future directions to advance understanding in this evolving field. This paper explores the evolving landscape of e-government research through the lens of social network analysis, uncovering key patterns, emerging trends, and prospective future directions. VOSviewer software is used to map the relationships between themes, authors, affiliations, and global research trends. The results show that e-government publications fluctuate, with the highest peak in 2022 before declining significantly in 2025. Analysis of the distribution of published themes shows that e-government is a multidisciplinary field. EGDI analysis confirms the consistency of countries such as Denmark, South Korea, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, and Singapore in achieving top rankings through inclusive policy support, digital infrastructure, and quality human resources. Therefore, this study recommends that future e-government development focus on fostering cross-disciplinary research by strengthening international collaboration. Furthermore, cross-country policy comparisons are crucial for strengthening transparent, participatory, and sustainable digital governance.
References
Abdulkareem, A. K. (2024). E-Government in Nigeria Can Generative AI Serve as a Tool for Civic Engagement? Public Governance, Administration and Finances Law Review, 9(1), 75–90. https://doi.org/10.53116/pgaflr.7068
Adams, S. O., & Paul, C. (2023). E-government development indices and the attainment of United Nations sustainable development goals in Africa: A cross-sectional data analysis. European Journal of Sustainable Development Research, 7(4). https://doi.org/10.29333/ejosdr/13576
Agbozo, E., & Asamoah, B. K. (2019). The role of e-government systems in ensuring government effectiveness and control of corruption. R-Economy, 5(2), 53–60. https://doi.org/10.15826/recon.2019.5.2.006
Ahmad, N., Waqas, M., & Zhang, X. (2021). Public Sector Employee Perspective towards Adoption of E-Government in Pakistan: A Proposed Research Agenda. Data and Information Management, 5(1), 119–124. https://doi.org/10.2478/dim-2020-0029
Akbar, P., Nurmandi, A., Irawan, B., & Loilatu, M. J. (2022). Research Trends in E- Government Interoperability: Mapping Themes and Concepts Based on The Scopus Database. EJournal of EDemocracy and Open Government, 14(2), 83–108. https://doi.org/10.29379/jedem.v14i2.707
Androniceanu, A., & Georgescu, I. (2021). E-Government in European Countries, a Comparative Approach Using the Principal Components Analysis. NISPAcee Journal of Public Administration and Policy, 14(2), 65–86. https://doi.org/10.2478/nispa-2021-0015
Androniceanu, A., & Georgescu, I. (2023). Hierarchical Clustering of the European Countries from the Perspective of E-government, E-participation, and Human Development. NISPAcee Journal of Public Administration and Policy, 16(2), 1–29. https://doi.org/10.2478/nispa-2023-0011
Baharuddin, T., Qodir, Z., & Loilatu, M. J. (2022). Government Website Performance during Covid-19 : Comparative Study Yogyakarta and South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Journal of Governance and Public Policy, 9(2), 109–123. https://doi.org/10.18196/jgpp.v9i2.11474
Bokšová, J., Bokša, M., Horák, J., Pavlica, K., Strouhal, J., & Šaroch, S. (2021). E-government services and the digital divide: A quantitative analysis of the digital divide between the general public and internet users. Journal of Telecommunications and the Digital Economy, 9(1), 27–49. https://doi.org/10.18080/JTDE.V9N1.301
Chen, Y., & Li, Q. (2024). The Impact of E-Government on the New Generation Productive Capacities: Evidence from Cross-Country Data. Sustainability (Switzerland), 16(8). https://doi.org/10.3390/su16083233
Chohan, S. R., & Hu, G. (2022). Strengthening digital inclusion through e-government: cohesive ICT training programs to intensify digital competency. Information Technology for Development, 28(1), 16–38. https://doi.org/10.1080/02681102.2020.1841713
de Melo Santos, N. D. M., & de Souza, E. C. L. (2021). Evolution and trend of studies on e-government: Mapping the area- from 1992 to 2018. Revista de Administracao Publica, 55(5), 1124–1148. https://doi.org/10.1590/0034-761220200582
Dias, G. P. (2019). Fifteen years of e-government research in Ibero-America: A bibliometric analysis. Government Information Quarterly, 36(3), 400–411. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2019.05.008
Djatmiko, G. H., Sinaga, O., & Pawirosumarto, S. (2025). Digital Transformation and Social Inclusion in Public Services: A Qualitative Analysis of E-Government Adoption for Marginalized Communities in Sustainable Governance. Sustainability (Switzerland), 17(7). https://doi.org/10.3390/su17072908
Effiong, U. E., & Okijie, S. R. (2021). Governance and Economic Development in the 21ST Century : Empirical Evidence from Selected West African Countries. 1(3).
Elmatsani, H. M., Widianingsih, I., Nurasa, H., Munajat, M. D. E., & Suwanda, S. (2024). Exploring the evolution of leadership in government: a bibliometric study from e- government era into the digital age. Cogent Social Sciences, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2024.2414877
Fisdian Adni, D., Rusadi, S., & Baharuddin, T. (2024). Adaptive Policy in Website-Based Digitization of Government Public Services: A Thematic Analysis. Journal of Local Government Issues, 7(1), 54–67. https://doi.org/10.22219/logos.v7i1.29404
Ibrahim, A. H. H., Baharuddin, T., & Wance, M. (2023). Bibliometric Analysis of E-Government and Trust : A Lesson for Indonesia. Jurnal Borneo Administrator, 19(3), 269–284. https://doi.org/10.24258/jba.v19i3.1303
Isabella, Agustian, E., Baharuddin, T., & Ibrahim, A. H. H. (2025). Bridging E-Government With Digital Literacy: a Literature Review. Journal of Governance and Regulation, 14(1 (special issue)), 361–371. https://doi.org/10.22495/jgrv14i1siart12
Isabella, Alfitri, Saptawan, A., Nengyanti, & Baharuddin, T. (2024). Empowering Digital Citizenship in Indonesia : Navigating Urgent Digital Literacy Challenges for Effective Digital Governance. Journal of Governance and Public Policy, 11(2), 142–155. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.18196/jgpp.v11i2.19258
Işık, C., Aydın, E., Dogru, T., Rehman, A., Sirakaya-Turk, E., & Karagöz, D. (2022). Innovation Research in Tourism and Hospitality Field: A Bibliometric and Visualization Analysis. Sustainability (Switzerland), 14(13). https://doi.org/10.3390/su14137889
Lytras, M. D., & Şerban, A. C. (2020). E-Government Insights to Smart Cities Research: European Union (EU) Study and the Role of Regulations. IEEE Access, 8, 65313–65326. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2020.2982737
Marysyuk, K. B., Tomchuk, I. O., Denysovskyі, M. D., Geletska, I. O., & Khutornyi, B. V. (2021). ‘Diia. digital state’ and E-Government practices as anti-corruption tools in Ukraine. WSEAS Transactions on Environment and Development, 17, 885–897. https://doi.org/10.37394/232015.2021.17.83
Mensah, I. K. (2019). Factors Influencing the Intention of University Students to Adopt and Use E-Government Services: An Empirical Evidence in China. SAGE Open, 9(2). https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244019855823
Mkude, C. (2023). Open Innovation in E-government: Exploring its Practices in Tanzania. Digital Government: Research and Practice, 4(1). https://doi.org/10.1145/3571822
Mostafa, M. M., & El-Masry, A. A. (2013). Citizens as consumers: Profiling e-government services’ users in Egypt via data mining techniques. International Journal of Information Management, 33(4), 627–641. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2013.03.007
Mukminto, E., Martitah, M., Damayanti, R., & Wedhatami, B. (2023). Public Services Versus Covid-19: Participation of Villagers in Public Service based on E-Government in Pandemic. Jurnal Pengabdian Hukum Indonesia, 6(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.15294/jphi.v6i1.60650
Nadhira, R., Hamdi, H., Putri, S. A. E., & Ervi, T. S. (2024). Enhancing citizen satisfaction and loyalty in e-government: Lessons learned from Jakarta COVID-19 website. Information Services and Use, 44(2), 121–138. https://doi.org/10.3233/ISU-240229
Nielsen, M. M., & Ali, W. K. M. (2021). Governing and Monitoring the Digital Transformation: Assessing the Qatari Experience since 2003. ACM International Conference Proceeding Series, 246–253. https://doi.org/10.1145/3494193.3494227
Noor, M. (2022). The effect of e-service quality on user satisfaction and loyalty in accessing e-government information. International Journal of Data and Network Science, 6(3), 945–952. https://doi.org/10.5267/j.ijdns.2022.2.002
Pisár, P., Priščáková, S., Špaček, D., & Nemec, J. (2022). Digitization as a tool of e-government in selected public services of the state: international comparison of Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Administratie Si Management Public, 2022(39), 111–132. https://doi.org/10.24818/amp/2022.39-07
Prabawa, W. G., Mutiarin, D., Purnomo, E. P., & Roengtam, S. (2024). Bibliometric Analysis in the Development of Public Sector Digitalization. 11(2), 114–126.
Quintana, A. G., Urquía-Grande, E., & Delgado Jalón, M. L. (2022). Strategic Conceptual Theories and Sustainable Cooperation Among Stakeholders in E-government, E- participation, and Social Media. Central European Journal of Public Policy, 16(2), 46–63. https://doi.org/10.2478/cejpp-2022-0007
Ravšelj, D., Umek, L., Todorovski, L., & Aristovnik, A. (2022). A Review of Digital Era Governance Research in the First Two Decades: A Bibliometric Study. Future Internet, 14(5). https://doi.org/10.3390/fi14050126
Rusch, G. M., Bartlett, J., Kyrkjeeide, M. O., Lein, U., Nordén, J., Sandvik, H., & Stokland, H. (2022). A joint climate and nature cure: A transformative change perspective. Ambio, 51(6), 1459–1473. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-021-01679-8
Singh, S., Kumar, V., Paliwal, M., Verma, P., & Rajak, B. (2022). A citizen-centric approach to understand the effectiveness of e-government web portals: Empirical evidence from India. Information Polity, 27(4), 539–555. https://doi.org/10.3233/IP-220001
Smirnova, N. (2020). E-government and social media in Ukraine: global challenges for legal regulations. Lex Portus, 1(21), 69–84. https://doi.org/10.26886/2524-101X.1.2020.5
Sussy, B.-O., & Vicente, M. L. (2021). E-government and e-services in local government: A case study. WSEAS Transactions on Environment and Development, 17, 732–739. https://doi.org/10.37394/232015.2021.17.70
Tejedo-Romero, F., Araujo, J. F. F. E., Tejada, Á., & Ramírez, Y. (2022). E-government mechanisms to enhance the participation of citizens and society: Exploratory analysis through the dimension of municipalities. Technology in Society, 70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2022.101978
Tolossa, G., & Melese, W. E. (2024). Revisiting determinants of tax revenue mobilization in Sub-Saharan African countries: does e-government matter? Cogent Social Sciences, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2024.2399937
Uwizeyimana, D. E. (2022). Analysing the importance of e-government in times of disruption: The case of public education in Rwanda during Covid-19 lockdown. Evaluation and Program Planning, 91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2022.102064
Weigl, L., Roth, T., Amard, A., & Zavolokina, L. (2024). When public values and user- centricity in e-government collide – A systematic review. Government Information Quarterly, 41(3). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2024.101956
Włodyka, E. M. (2024). Implementation of e-Government and Artificial Intelligence in Polish Public Administration. TalTech Journal of European Studies, 14(2), 118–136. https://doi.org/10.2478/bjes-2024-0019
Wu, A. M., Yan, Y., & Vyas, L. (2020). Public sector innovation, e-government, and anticorruption in China and India: Insights from civil servants. Australian Journal of Public Administration, 79(3), 370–385. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8500.12439
Zambrano-Yépez, C., Guillén-Rodríguez, Y., & Henríquez-Coronel, P. (2023). Multivariate analysis of the determinants of e-government. Administratie Si Management Public, 2023(40), 132–146. https://doi.org/10.24818/amp/2023.40-08
Zeebaree, M., Agoyi, M., & Aqel, M. (2022). Sustainable Adoption of E-Government from the UTAUT Perspective. Sustainability (Switzerland), 14(9). https://doi.org/10.3390/su14095370
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Nur Inzana, Anwar Sadat (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
The Authors(s) retain copyrights of the Article published on CGR. However, before publishing, it is required to obtain written confirmation from Author(s) in order to ensure the originality (Author Statement of Originality). The statement is to be signed by at least one of the authors who have obtained the assent of the co-author(s) where applicable. This work licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).
