Digitalization, accounting and accountability. A literature review and reflections on future research in public services

This study discusses the current state of the art and future directions of research on digitalization, accountability and accounting in public services. Through a systematic literature review, we investigate 232 articles published between 1998 and the first quarter of 2020. These studies are analysed looking at the implications of the increasing digitalization of the public realm for the i) production of data, ii) consumption of data, and iii) their subsequent effects. Based upon this analysis we identify the following emerging critical digital accountability issues and related future research avenues: the potential for dialogic and horizontal, multi-centric accountability; the blurring of accountability roles and boundaries; the increasing relevance of translation processes and translators’ roles - and the need to ensure accountability in such translations; the need to pay stronger attention to social equity and inclusivity implications of digitalization.