Digitalization and Fighting Corruption: Evidence From Best Practices and Egyptʹs Public Sector During Covide19

Purpose: The main contribution is to analyze the link between digitalization and fighting corruption and to determine to what extent the public sector performance could be improved and benefit from this linkage, especially during the COVID19 period.
Design methodology/approach - The paper adopts an analytical descriptive methodology approach derived from different theoretical kinds of literature and empirical case studies to learn lessons to apply to the Egyptian case. In addition, this research is based on investigating the validity of a model that reflects the relationship between the two variables during the crisis period and the potential outcomes of that application.
Originality- This research provides a systematic assessment of digitalization's impact on corruption through a context-dependent evaluation. It guides addressing and mitigating corruption risks in the COVID-19 response at the state level, especially in the Egyptian case.
Findings- Although some studies provide evidence of how digital government contributes to reduced corruption, it doesn’t ensure success in many cases. Digitalization is expected to affectDigitalization is expected to affect corruption significantly. A higher level of digitalization would result in a less corrupt government. Digitalization supports governments in fulfilling their responsibilities in a technologically enhanced way through well-prepared infrastructure. Digitalization could be seen in the context of the citizen’s access to technology, the level of skill development to use the technology, and the actual use that will increase during any digital government initiative. The presence of a well-developed ICT infrastructure is vital for serving as transparency and anti-corruption tools, but at the same time, these do not mean success.