Author: Dr. Gariba and colleagues.
Public sector digitalization and human factors are increasingly recognized as vital components of efficient public administration. As governments strive to modernize their operations, understanding how digital transformation interacts with human capabilities becomes essential. This study emphasizes the mediating role of public digitalization in linking human factors, such as skills, motivation, and adaptability, to administrative performance. Effective governance today depends not only on technology adoption but also on the readiness of public servants to integrate digital tools into their daily work.
Grounded in institutional theory, this research develops and tests a theoretical model to assess how public digitalization bridges the relationship between human factors and public administration performance. By analyzing data from the 27 European Union (EU) member states between 2018 and 2023, the study captures recent trends in digital governance, employee development, and institutional adaptation. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was employed to examine both direct and indirect effects, offering a holistic view of how human and technological elements shape modern governance outcomes.
The results demonstrate that human factors have a significant and positive direct relationship with public administration performance. Public officials’ competencies, innovation capacity, and engagement directly enhance administrative effectiveness. Moreover, the findings reveal that human factors also positively influence public digitalization. This underscores the need for continuous investment in human capital development, particularly in digital skills, leadership, and innovation management, to fully leverage technological advancements.
Furthermore, public digitalization itself exerts a strong positive impact on public administration, reinforcing its role in improving efficiency, transparency, and citizen-centric service delivery. Digital technologies streamline bureaucratic processes, enhance data-driven decision-making, and promote accountability. Importantly, public digitalization is found to significantly mediate the relationship between human factors and administrative performance, suggesting that human and digital capacities must evolve in tandem to achieve sustainable governance improvements.
This study’s findings carry valuable implications for policymakers and practitioners. Governments aiming to strengthen administrative efficiency should prioritize investments in employee training, digital infrastructure, and institutional reform. Integrating human factors into digital transformation strategies ensures that technological innovation aligns with the capabilities and values of the public workforce. Finally, successful digital transformation is not solely a technical challenge, it is also a sociocultural process requiring alignment with institutional norms, values, and expectations.
In conclusion, this research highlights that the future of efficient public administration lies at the intersection of human resource development and digital innovation. Building a digitally empowered public sector depends on fostering human capital, institutional trust, and adaptive governance systems. By recognizing and strengthening these interconnections, policymakers can create more responsive, transparent, and inclusive public administrations across the European Union and beyond.
Read the full article here to explore the detailed findings and their implications for both policymakers and practitioners.