What is it about?

This article looks at how digital tools, like chatbots and virtual assistants, are helping people talk to government services more easily. As cities grow and public services struggle with delays, these e-government systems are being used worldwide to save time, make services more accessible, and increase trust between citizens and officials. We started by searching through thousands of research papers from databases and AI tools, then narrowed them down using clear selection criteria to focus on the most useful ones from around the globe. After this process, we reviewed 66 articles, looking at them in three main domains—what the tools aim to do, how they're built, and how they're tested—we uncovered key patterns. We highlight current trends in how these systems are evaluated, the main challenges ahead, and most importantly, straightforward tips for governments to adopt them successfully, like saving time, boosting trust, and making services more user-friendly for everyone.

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Why is it important?

This literature review stands out by providing the first global, practical analysis of how AI-driven e-government tools—like chatbots and virtual assistants—enhance everyday communication between citizens and public offices, using a new three-part framework to break down their goals, setup, and testing from 66 carefully selected studies out of thousands. In 2025, as urbanization surges and governments worldwide push AI for faster, more trustworthy services amid trends like proactive digital support and empathetic citizen interactions, this work is especially timely, revealing key gaps in real-world adoption and offering straightforward recommendations to cut delays, boost accessibility, and build public trust. By bridging academic insights with actionable steps for policymakers and tech developers, it empowers better decision-making in digital governance, potentially sparking more collaborations and citations in this rapidly evolving field.

Perspectives

Working on this review has been a deeply rewarding journey for me, as it stems from my doctoral research focused on enhancing communication between citizens and public administration using cutting-edge concepts like Natural Language Processing (NLP), Large Language Models (LLMs), Multi-Agent Systems, and Agentic AI. Diving into the 66 studies we refined from thousands of papers gave me a firsthand look at the current background, emerging trends, and persistent challenges in this field. Personally, I hope this work, rooted in my PhD, inspires governments to adopt these innovative tools and sparks new projects that make public services more human and approachable for all.

Pedro Diniz
University of Porto

Read the Original

This page is a summary of: E-Government Systems to Improve Citizen-to-Public Administration Communication: A Literature Review, Digital Government Research and Practice, December 2025, ACM (Association for Computing Machinery),
DOI: 10.1145/3769114.
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