Technological Innovation and Sustainability in Public Administration: A Systematic Review and Research Agenda

This study examines how technological innovation and sustainability jointly reshape contemporary public administration by integrating digital transformation with public value creation. Using a mixed-method approach, we compile a Scopus-based bibliographic dataset and conduct descriptive and network analyses on 199 articles to map publication trends, methodological patterns, and core keyword clusters. We then perform an in-depth qualitative content analysis of 83 papers, coding public sector domains, actors, technological innovations, and sustainability dimensions. Findings highlight a shift from early e-government, centered on administrative efficiency, toward a paradigm of “sustainable digital governance”, where AI, IoT, blockchain and data analytics drive the twin digital–green transition. Five conceptual clusters and several application domains show that public value increasingly emerges within collaborative ecosystems involving administrations, firms, universities, citizens and digital platforms. The study offers an integrated overview of this evolving field and clarifies technology’s role as an enabling factor in sustainable governance. Building on the review results, we propose the Sustainable Public Innovation Ecosystem (SPIE) framework, which links systemic enablers (technological and sustainability innovation) governance efficiency and sustainable public value through ecosystem dynamics and governance mechanisms. It also outlines a future research agenda on hybrid actors ethical and regulatory issues, and approaches to measuring sustainable public value, providing guidance for scholars and policymakers designing digitally enabled and sustainability-oriented public reforms.