Public service delivery in the digital era: a bibliometric review

The study analyses the digital transformation of public administration in Europe and its impact on user interaction. The research focuses on user orien- tation in public services, considering the transition from Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0 and the implications for public management. The bibliometric review pro- vides an overview of the literature published in Scopus, filtering for European countries, from 2009 to 2024, highlighting key trends, influential authors, and potential areas for future research. The inclusion criteria for the study encompass open-access, peer-reviewed documents in English and listed as 2 stars or more in the ABS list 2021. The findings reveal a significant increase in research on digital transformation and user interaction in public administration since 2009, with a particular emphasis on the period following the Tallinn Declaration of 2017. We perform a co-authorship network and co-occurrence keywords analysis to identify productive authors and research themes. The Journal of Business Re- search was found to be the most productive source, with a focus on digitalization, smart cities, and customer engagement. The analysis also revealed the dominance of male authors and UK institutions in the dataset. The co-authorship analysis identified collaboration patterns and clusters of authors, providing insights into potential research partnerships. Finally, the study presented the most cited arti- cles on user orientation in the public sector, emphasizing the importance of un- derstanding digital technologies and their impact on public service delivery.