Cross-border digital public services in the European Union: a systematic literature review

Abstract

The success of the European single market and advancements in digital technologies have increased the focus on cross-border digital public services. To date, most academic research on digital public services has been concentrated on national and local levels, with research on cross-border digital public services being scattered across various academic disciplines. In this paper, we provide a systematic literature review on cross-border digital public services. We conclude that current research on cross-border digital public services describes the symptoms of faltering coordination at the level of European policy making organisational change challenges and limited maturity with low levels of interoperability between public administrations in the EU. However, cross-border digital public services literature is undertheorised, and we suggest using multi-level governance theories, theories of organisational change, interoperability studies, and service development literature to guide future research into cross-border digital public services, through which European citizens and businesses can experience the impact of European integration policies.