Drawing word co-occurrence map in the field of digital transformation in the Web of Science database

The current research was conducted with the aim of drawing word co-occurrence map in the field of digital transformation in the public sector in the Web of Science database.

This analytical research was carried out using scientometric techniques with library methods, vocabulary co-occurrence analysis and social network analysis. The statistical population of the research consists of 536 scientific publications in the field of digital transformation from 1996 to 2022 in the Web of Science database. Data analysis and the word co-occurrence map were done with the Excel, Bibexcel and HistCite and VOSviewer softwares.

The findings showed that the UK, Russia and India had the most publications on this subject. Dalhousie University, Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, Brunel University London were the most prolific research institutes for publications on digital transformation. Six clusters of digital transformation research were identified in the public sector, which include digital government services, digital infrastructure, digital transformation strategy, digital leadership and governance, transformative technologies, and digital innovation cluster (disruptive technologies).

The results indicate that the majority of publications have been conducted around e-government, information and communication technology, digitalization, business, digitization and digital strategy, which shows the need to pay attention to the appropriate infrastructure and transform governments to move towards digital transformation in services. The need for international cooperation is necessary for the countries to achieve such a goal.