Public Management Review

Inclusive Innovations in Public Management: Navigating Digital Transitions in Non-Western Contexts

The digital transformation of public management has fundamentally reshaped the principles of efficiency, effectiveness, and equity—the three Es—through new technological applications and governance models. While digital innovations such as artificial intelligence, big data, and blockchain have enhanced administrative efficiency and transparency in public services (Young et al., 2019), they have also introduced challenges related to digital divides, regulatory adaptation, and institutional capacity constraints (Lember, et al., 2019; Neumann et al., 2024).

In particular, digital technologies present both opportunities and risks for advancing equity in the public sector. On one hand, tools such as AI-driven assistive technologies, real-time language translation, and predictive analytics for targeting social services offer promising avenues to improve accessibility, responsiveness, and fairness. On the other hand, issues like algorithmic bias, data privacy concerns, and unequal access to digital infrastructure can undermine equitable outcomes if left unaddressed.

While traditional public management reforms have often prioritized efficiency through market-oriented approaches, the digital era demands a broader focus—one that also emphasizes inclusion, citizen engagement, and adaptive policymaking to ensure both effectiveness and equity (Scupola & Mergel, 2022). Exploring both sides of this dynamic—how digital innovations can promote equity, and under what conditions they might inadvertently reinforce exclusion—is essential to developing more inclusive, responsive, and context-sensitive digital governance strategies.

This special issue approaches digital innovations and transitions as key enablers or drivers of change and the three Es of efficiency, effectiveness, and equity as dependent variables or key outcomes in public management to be examined. Specifically, we define efficiency as the improvement of productivity and resource utilization in public service delivery, effectiveness as the extent to which public services and policies achieve their intended objectives, and equity as the fair distribution of the benefits and burdens of public policies, with a particular focus on addressing systemic disparities and promoting social inclusion (Andrews et al., 2019). This framing invites submissions that examine how digital transitions influence one or more of these dimensions and encourages authors to engage with the broader implications for performance and public value in varied governance contexts.

Additionally, public sector digitalization strategies vary significantly across contexts due to differences in governance structures, socio-economic conditions, and institutional legacies, underscoring the need for comparative analyses that highlight context-specific digital governance strategies (Haque et al., 2021). While a substantial portion of digital governance research has originated in Western countries (for example, Western Europe and North America), there is a growing body of work focused on non-Western contexts. Notably, research focusing on East Asia is on the rise, and countries like China and South Korea have been the subject of recent studies reflecting the significant digital initiatives in their public sectors. Likewise, research on Latin American e-government and public innovation is expanding, reflecting the region’s evolving digital landscape.

However, despite these encouraging developments, empirical evidence suggests that regions such as Asia, Latin America, and Africa remain underrepresented in the broader digital governance literature (Gil-Garcia et al., 2018; Haug et al., 2024). Acknowledging both existing contributions and persisting gaps, this special issue seeks to complement and expand global scholarship by drawing attention to diverse governance experiences beyond the traditional Western focus.

In many non-Western settings, digital transformation is advancing rapidly, often in the absence of long-established bureaucratic traditions or within hybrid governance systems. These contexts offer critical opportunities to refine and expand public management theory by uncovering alternative institutional logics, implementation pathways, and policy outcomes. In particular, emerging digital ecosystems—where integrated platforms facilitate citizen participation, public service co-production, and value co-creation—call for deeper investigation across varied cultural and administrative settings. By examining these evolving dynamics, we aim to enrich theory and practice by incorporating insights from diverse governance environments, and foster a more inclusive and globally informed understanding of digital transitions in public management scholarship.

Call for Contributions

This special issue invites high-quality contributions that rethink the traditional pillars of public management—efficiency, effectiveness, and equity—in light of rapid digital transitions. We are particularly interested in contributions that engage with or challenge existing theoretical frameworks. For instance, do the traditional “three Es” sufficiently capture the performance dimensions of digitally enabled governance, or do digital transitions necessitate the development of new evaluative criteria—such as adaptability, resilience, or algorithmic accountability? We encourage papers that interrogate, refine, or expand public management theories to better reflect the changing dynamics of public service delivery in the digital age.

Equally important, we place strong emphasis on the role of context in shaping digital transitions. Authors are encouraged to examine how institutional, cultural, and political factors condition the adoption, implementation, and consequences of digital innovations. In particular, we welcome comparative analyses that explore differences between Western and non-Western settings or that draw insights across diverse non-Western governance systems. These cross-contextual perspectives are crucial for uncovering how digital tools are reshaping public management strategies—and whether their promises and pitfalls play out similarly across institutional landscapes.

Methodologically, we welcome a wide range of contributions, including rigorous empirical work—qualitative, quantitative, or mixed-method—spanning in-depth case studies, comparative analyses, experimental work, and large-N investigations that offer new empirical insights. We also strongly encourage conceptual and theoretical papers that develop new frameworks, synthesize existing scholarship, or question prevailing assumptions. Regardless of approach, all submissions should clearly demonstrate their relevance to public management scholarship by articulating how their findings or arguments advance theory and inform practice in the age of digital innovation.

Key Themes and Topics:

• Assessing Digital Impacts on the Three Es:
  Conceptual and/or empirical studies for evaluating how digital transitions affect efficiency, effectiveness, and equity in public management and how emerging digital innovations such as artificial intelligence, big data, and blockchain are being leveraged to transform public management while reinforcing the three Es.
• Policy and Regulatory Innovations:
  Analyses of how governments, particularly in non-Western contexts, are designing and implementing policies and regulations to enable equitable digitalization while ensuring effectiveness and efficiency. Papers may consider institutional reforms, policy experimentation, or new governance models.
• Digital Ecosystems and Citizen-Centric Governance:
  Explorations into the broader ecosystems of digital public services, emphasizing how integrated digital platforms enhance citizen engagement, participation, and value co-creation. This theme invites theoretical and empirical contributions on how digital ecosystems strengthen democratic engagement and public value creation.
• Collaborative and Inclusive Governance Models:
  Studies exploring multi-stakeholder collaborations and digitally enabled participatory processes that promote inclusion and address digital divides. Contributions may examine cross-sector partnerships, community-based initiatives, or platform governance approaches that enhance the three Es.
• Overcoming Barriers to Equity:
  Studies examining both the opportunities and challenges of promoting equity during digital transformations. Contributions may explore how digital technologies are being used to expand access and inclusion while also addressing persistent barriers, including digital divides, resource constraints, and structural inequities. Emphasis may be placed on strategies that enable equitable outcomes for marginalized or underserved groups.
• Comparative Analyses of Digital Strategies:
  Comparative studies that either examine diverse non-Western contexts or contrast Western and non-Western cases. Comparative contributions might, for example, analyze how two cities or countries with differing administrative cultures implement digital technologies in public services, or compare the digital inclusion policies between different contexts. Such analyses can yield valuable insights into context-specific drivers and barriers, helping to identify why certain digital innovations succeed in one context but face challenges in another.
• Ethical Implications of Digital Governance:
  Critical reflections on the ethical challenges and normative dilemmas associated with digital transformation in the public sector. Topics may include surveillance, algorithmic bias, data protection, transparency, and the implications of AI-driven decision-making for democratic accountability.

(please contact Guest Editors for list of references)