Future of public organizations in the digital transformation era

Introduction and Purpose: Digital transformation has been a “buzz” word over the last few years. Government of Egypt has initiated various ambitious initiatives and projects for transforming the economy into digital economy. Since the outlook of the future organizations would be different from what we know today, therefore, such transformation mandates radical change in the way public leaders manage their organizations, operations and workforce. Consequently, there is a necessity for foreseeing the drivers of change, as well as the technological evolution, which are shaping the future. Foreseeing and understanding the drivers of change would be the path for survival and thrift. Based on that, the paper outlines the major trends shaping the future of public organizations in the digital transformation era, as well as establishes a roadmap for such organizations for having a smooth restructuring and transformation, in order to be ready for the future. Methodology: The approach used in the paper is based on thorough analysis of the reports issued by international institutions, organization development (OD), and literature in the areas of future governments and digital transformation, desk research, and interviews with key personnel in the government and Business Representative Organizations (BROs). Findings: The paper identifies the drivers and trends shaping the future of public organizations, and outlines framework and system model for the productive future public organizations, as well as summarizes the characteristics of such organizations. Contributions: The proposed framework will act as a guiding instrument for policymakers and public leaders for planning and executing effective and efficient transformation of the public organizations in the digital transformation era. Also, the paper can be used as a base for future research in specific issues related to the digital transformation of the nation. © IAMOT 2019.