Research has been conducted on the link between ethics and EDTs in the public sector (Madan & Ashok 2023). However, most studies are context dependent, focusing on ethics policy development and implementation within their specific settings (for example, James 2024). In other words, the contextual factors, such as the scope and extent of the governments in addressing ethical issues, cannot be viewed as a one-size-fits-all approach, as the South African public sector differs from other regions. That said, EDTs of the public sector in South Africa are unique and can demand dissimilar approaches in devising ethical solutions. Considering the scholarly debates, the scarcity of ethical frameworks guiding the uptake of EDTs in the South African public sector has been identified as a gap leading to this research (Department of Communications and Digital Technologies [DCDT] 2024a, 2024b; Mkhatshwa & Mawela 2023). Moreover, as the government in South Africa is at the core of service delivery in the technology-driven economy, the influence of ethics on EDTs cannot be overstretched if the innovative ways to render efficient services to the citizens and other stakeholders have to be improved.

Based on the problem above, the primary objective is to present a conceptual framework for ethical EDTs of the South African public sector. To achieve the primary objective, the following secondary objectives are:

South Africa became a free country after the demise of the apartheid era in 1994. With the introduction of the new public administration, e-government strategies were implemented in 1999 through the State Information Technology Agency (SITA), an agency responsible for accelerating digital transformation in South Africa (Jakoet-Salie 2020; Komna & Mpungose 2024). Although digital government in South Africa has been commended for its capability to improve efficiency, modernise internal processes, diminish costs and enhance service delivery, it has also been besieged with the contextual determinants hampering its full realisation, such as digital skills deficit, ethical issues (data privacy, security, accountability and transparency), limited digital infrastructure and the lack of appropriate regulatory frameworks guiding digital technologies, inter alia (Nkgapele 2024; Worku 2024). For instance, while the country has taken drastic steps to embrace digitalised and automated services throughout, the socio-economic disparities (e.g. poverty, unemployment and inequality) continue to exacerbate the status quo.

Digital policy initiatives have recently been undertaken to respond to the ever-evolving business environment. For example, the ‘Draft Digital Government Policy Framework’ was introduced to facilitate the development and implementation of EDTs in the public sector, even though it has not yet been endorsed by the South African parliament (Department of Public Service and Administration [DPSA] 2024). On the other hand, the ‘National Data and Cloud Policy Framework’ was instituted to tackle the burgeoning necessity to reshape digital government models and administer vast data through cutting-edge and emerging technologies, such as cloud computing (DCDT 2024a). Furthermore, the South African government has also published the ‘South African National Artificial Intelligence Policy Framework’, with the view to enhance the assimilation of AI-based technologies (e.g. machine learning algorithms, natural language processing, virtual assistants, etc.) into the internal processes of different departments while improving the health of the citizens and other stakeholders in the digital epoch (DCDT 2023). To this end, however, apart from the ‘National Data and Cloud Policy Framework’ approved by the Minister of DCDT, all other policies underscored above are still being drafted. Furthermore, notwithstanding the enactment of legislative frameworks such as the Protection of Personal Information Act (PoPIA) of 2013 and the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act (ECTA) of 2002, among others, they are said to be incompatible with the EDTs (Mtuze & Morige 2024).

It is crucial to indicate that issues about the moral consequences of EDTs are not novel; instead, they have proliferated as those technologies are continuously becoming pervasive in the digital realm. To this end, scholarly discourse has reflected on the three ethical frameworks, namely: utilitarianism, deontology and virtue ethics, also referred to as ‘the big three’, to validate the adoption and implementation of technologies through ethics in diverse sectors (Drašček, Rejc Buhovac & Mesner Andolšek 2021; Farayola & Olorunfemi 2024). That being the case, normative ethical theories have been prevalent in making sound ethical decision-making for appraising technological choices envisaged by the organisation (Bednar & Spiekermann 2024). Apart from that, these frameworks have been pivotal in providing the rules of how individuals should conduct themselves. The frameworks are critical in policy formulation and decision-making processes in different areas where technology adoption is prevalent (Bajpai & Singh 2024). Primarily, as these normative theories present a unique viewpoint and the requirements for appraising moral obligations and ascertaining actions of individuals, they are relevant and feasible in shaping the ethics of EDTs in this study.

Jeremy Bentham’s utilitarianism, as a form of consequentialist ethical theories within moral philosophy, is an outcome-based approach that centres on the outcomes or implications of the conduct to ascertain the moral value of individuals (Akhundov 2025). Even though several utilitarian ethical guidelines have been explored in the corpus of academic discourse, the focal points of these guidelines are based on Bentham’s framework: amplifying utility, broadening the general good and prioritising public pleasure (Bednar & Spiekermann 2024). Specifically, the classic utilitarianism by Bentham considers utility with reference to excitement or pleasure. One of the advantages of the utilitarian stance is that it provides a tangible approach to determining the morally correct course of action (Tsou & Walsh 2023). Utilitarianism is segregated into two features that emphasise the implications of actions and rules: Act and Rule Utilitarianism. While Act Utilitarianism entails that ‘actions that maximise utility are morally good’, Rule Utilitarianism, on the other hand, corroborates ‘the rules that maximise utility are morally good’ (Tsou & Walsh 2023:2). In this study, the utilitarian stance is based on the feasibility of generating rewards on a large scale through the application of EDTs in the public sector. This implies improving the overall well-being of humans, despite potential adverse effects for certain groups of individuals.

Immanuel Kant’s worldview, deontology ethics, is a duty-based ethical theory that emphasises moral obligations and principles governing individuals’ conduct as opposed to the implications of actions when ascertaining right or wrongdoings (Bednar & Spiekermann 2024). The individuals’ actions are weighed on the basis of their compliance with moral obligations and principles, notwithstanding the consequences brought about by those actions. Broadly, Kant’s deontological philosophical reasoning believes that particular actions are inherently and ethically binding, tolerable or intolerable, irrespective of the resulting repercussions that may arise from the outcomes of those actions (Drašček et al. 2021; Farayola & Olorunfemi 2024). That said, the driving factors of the deontological viewpoint that are eminent for providing regulation on ethical procedure, autonomous of the implications thereof, are duties, moralities, customs, respect for individuals and doctrines of justice. In the context of this study, however, a deontological stance is imperative in ensuring that adherence to ethical duties and standards is observed while aligning EDTs with the moral obligations in their development and use, such as upholding data privacy, security and fairness.

As one of the classic and widely applied theories in technological environment, Aristotle’s virtue ethics is a character-based ethical theory that is fundamental in nurturing decent character attributes in individuals, such as trustworthiness, courage and compassion (Akhundov 2025). While virtues are deeply embedded in the traits and conduct of individuals, they can contribute to moral success within the entire society. Furthermore, although individuals have multifaceted intellectual capacities, they require strong personal qualities to behave well, such as empathy, joy, ambition, truthfulness, kindness and love, inter alia (Tsou & Walsh 2023). It is argued that considering virtue ethical concerns in the developmental stage of EDTs can profoundly expedite individuals to take advantage of those EDTs for their personal growth while maintaining the consequences thereof (Bednar & Spiekermann 2024). This assertion is consistent with the views of Akhundov (2025), who corroborates that as Aristotle’s virtue ethics has been critical in reinforcing innovativeness and advancement in the technological milieu, it has robustly contributed to assimilating ethical concerns resulting from the uptake of EDTs.

The feasibility of considering these renowned normative theories in this study lies in the urgent necessity to ethically align EDTs with the processes of the South African public sector, which is vital to circumvent unethical conduct while utilising those technologies. Aside from that, with novel technologies influencing individuals’ moralities and the rising ethical conundrums permeating the public sector, the integration of the big three into the systems and workflows of the South African public sector arguably becomes non-trivial for enhancing their responsible use. This can accelerate an online and efficient public services to citizens, particularly for those situated in urban and suburban areas across the country.

Emerging digital technologies encompass the ubiquitous technologies (e.g. AI, big data and cloud computing) that are essential in the public sector nowadays, and their actual usage profoundly affects the socio-economic facets of users (Valle-Cruz & García-Contreras 2025). These technologies are broadly novel, and some are yet to be realised, but they may also be considered mature technologies demanding new applications (Udo et al. 2024). In South Africa, the public sector includes the three spheres of government (i.e. national departments, provincial departments and local governments) and public entities. Succinctly, the public sector strives to provide excellent services (e.g. health, education, water, municipal services, welfare, agriculture, transport, safety, human settlements, sports and roads) while ensuring greater accountability, transparency and responsibility from general public servants and executives.

Emerging digital technologies by the public sector have gained popularity in research and practice (Mergel et al. 2023; Mkhatshwa & Mawela 2023). With most public sectors across the globe adopting EDTs to serve their people, service delivery has significantly improved. For instance, public health professionals can identify health-related hazards (e.g. obesity leading to high blood pressure) and expedite patient file processing using AI-enabled systems (Alhosani & Alhashmi 2024). Most imperatively, AI has substantially enhanced healthcare services. Although most EDTs (e.g. AI) in the public sector are at the embryonic stage and opaque, particularly in emerging economies like South Africa (Baloyi 2025; Worku 2024), the advanced economy countries have reaped the potential benefits resulting from their application, such as cost savings, efficiency and transparency (Saheb & Saheb 2024; United Nations 2024).

Ethics play an integral role in contemporary business and have always been at the hub of humanity as a substantial facet of good governance. Several studies have focused on investigating the ethics guiding the implementation of EDTs in the public sector. Table 1 provides an overview of those studies.

More than ever before, cyberattack activities and exploitations are becoming increasingly prevalent worldwide (Dagada 2024), not only by compromising confidential personal information but also by eroding public trust in the delivery of digital services (Baloyi 2025). While the recognition of diverse EDTs (including AI-related technologies) is proliferating at a rapid pace, cyberattacks are also increasingly penetrating the public administration in emerging economies because of the lack of robust systems (cybersecurity) that address ethical issues (Ukeje et al. 2024; United Nations 2024). Most African countries are beleaguered by persistent cybercrime events, disrupting the efficient use of EDTs (Henrico & Els 2025). That being the case, however, several cases of cyberattacks have occurred in the South African public sector, compromising service delivery at different public organisations and left those institutions in dire situation. The following serves as an example:

A study by Pillay (2024) and Cassim and Chapanduka (2024) focused on exploring ransomware (known as BlackSuit) cyberattacks targeting the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS), a public entity within the Department of Health, in June 2024. Notably, the incident has harshly interrupted the core business function within the public entity, resulting in inaccessible patient electronic samples and, consequently, the manual processing of information. To this end, doctors were unable to access patients’ data (such as laboratory results) because of encrypted files. The public entity did not even have a contingency (backup) plan to cater for this type of cyberattack. Regrettably, this has left service delivery in a devastating and vulnerable situation across the country. As the disruptions to core mandates (i.e. staggered services) within the NHLS have been imminent, the institution has incurred a significant financial loss.

On the other hand, Henrico and Els (2025) conducted research on the legal repercussions of cyberattacks happening in the South African context. Their study critically evaluated the legal obstacles and geopolitical issues associated with cyberattacks related to digital technologies while reflecting on the most recent cyberattacks that have occurred in the South African public sector. For example, they stated that prominent cyber events targeting the public sector and entities including ‘City of Johannesburg, Transnet and the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development [DoJCD]’ have been subjected to constant ransomware attacks, thus becoming a playground for cybercriminals and technocrats in the digital environment. The authors suggested a resilient system of cybersecurity and binding regulatory frameworks to not only enhance the sustainability of digital technologies but also alleviate the perils associated with recurring cyber terrorists emanating from both local and global domains. Although the State Security Agency of South Africa initiated the development and implementation of the National Cybersecurity Policy Framework in 2015, with the intention of holistically advancing cybersecurity procedures, there are still flaws in the effective application of the policy (Henrico & Els 2025).

In addition to cyberattack incidents, Siphambili et al. (2024) conducted a systematic review of the South African public sector’s capacity to tackle ransomware cyberattacks. Their study comprehensively assessed the country’s readiness for cyberattacks and proposed remedial actions to address the persistent challenge. The study found that, despite measures taken to address persistent cyber threats, the South African public sector and entities have remained vulnerable to multiple ransomware attacks, thereby derailing the delivery of effective public services to citizens. Altogether, their study has identified approximately ten incidents of cyberattacks that have occurred in the South African public sector since 2019, as illustrated sequentially in Figure 1.

While the PRISMA strategy was deemed pertinent to this study, the primary search of the studies commenced with a wide-ranging detection of the topical matter (i.e. ethics and EDTs in the public sector) aligned to the study purpose. This study considered peer-reviewed journal articles, conference papers, book chapters and government reports. The literature was extracted from the Web of Science (WoS) and ScienceDirect databases. The keywords ‘ethics’, ‘emerging digital technologies’, ‘emerging technologies’, ‘ethical framework’, ‘public service’, ‘service delivery’, ‘public sector’ and ‘public administration’ were searched on these reliable databases. The rationale for considering these renowned databases is their extensive coverage of information systems (IS) research. Only the studies (peer-reviewed journal articles, conference papers, book chapters and grey literature) published within 4 years (ranging from 2022 to 2025) were considered in the study.

After a comprehensive search on the WoS and ScienceDirect databases, the studies were rigorously reviewed by reading the abstract to determine their relevance and contribution to this study. Moreover, a thorough and systematic analysis was conducted to detect relevant themes and patterns. Although themes were extracted and inferred based on scholarly debates and recurrent terminologies from the literature, the authors ensured alignment with the primary aim of this study. It is argued that while the researcher scrutinises the extracted literature of information (e.g. journal articles), they can authenticate the results by exploring meticulously and, as such, mitigating the repercussions of potential prejudice that can arise in that study (Morgan 2022). To enhance the reliability of the data collected in the screening process, two independent assessors were assigned to appraise the studies as a strategy to diminish bias in the selection process. Furthermore, studies were analysed to detect relationships and discrepancies that may exist between the recognised themes and findings that were produced in this study.

The Department of Business Management Research Ethics Committee at the University of Johannesburg has granted ethical clearance on 01 November 2024 for a period of 3 years. The ethics waiver number is 24SOM/BM82, and the procedures in this study were aligned with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

After the study selection process, the authors evaluated the selected literature by reading the titles and abstracts to determine their quality. The process has helped the authors to consider studies that could make a meaningful contribution to the study. Additionally, the activity further enabled authors to evaluate the pertinence and quality of the selected studies. As pinpointed earlier, duplicates and non-English literature were excluded from the systematic analysis. Each abstract was scrutinised by two authors, apart from independent reviewers. Slight disagreements of thoughts were deliberated and resolved, finally reaching a concurrence. This resulted in 34 studies excluding grey literature being considered for systematic analysis, as depicted in Figure 2. The EndNote Reference Manager was used to effectively administer the replicated citations and produce a more comprehensive file. At the end, the split of the retrieved studies analysed through citation category indicates 31 (78%) are peer-reviewed journal articles, whereas two (5%), one (3%) and 6 (15%) were book chapters, conference paper and grey literature, respectively. All in all, the total studies, including grey literature in the systematic analysis, were 40. The eligibility requirements, as described in Table 2, were verified during the review process. Considering the eligibility criteria, the steps followed in the systematic analysis are delineated as follows:

A concise Table 3 highlights information of the studies included in the PRISMA technique. Succinctly, it provides information about authors, title, year of publication, primary objective and research methodology.

This section describes the advantages of integrating ethics into EDTs based on the themes derived from the systematic literature review: reduced cyberattacks, diminished bureaucracy, enhanced performance and increased productivity.

While the globe has experienced the burgeoning application of EDTs in providing services, cyberattacks have also increased in emerging economies (Masilela & Nel-Sanders 2023). For example, South Africa has also encountered alarming cyberattacks that have disrupted services, particularly in the public sector (Dagada 2024). To this effect, many cyberattack incidents in the South African public sector and public entities have been reported to the Information Regulator. These alarming activities stem from the policy gap on EDTs that necessitate the development of stringent legal and regulatory frameworks guiding the country’s 4IR technologies, as they adversely impact the country’s economic growth (DCDT 2024a). Although legal and regulatory frameworks are designed (e.g. PoPIA and ECTA), they are not meant for EDTs; hence, some departments and public entities fail to implement those technologies fully (Mtuze & Morige 2024). Despite that, South Africa is at the forefront of enacting and implementing relevant prescripts to prevent cyberattacks from occurring compared to other African countries (Masilela & Nel-Sanders 2023). One of the benefits of incorporating ethics into EDTs is the enhancement of internal processes and public sector administration by strengthening ethics policy frameworks and complying with all applicable ethics laws, which can lead to a reduction in cyberattacks (Nkgapele 2024). Additionally, investment in sound regulatory impact regarding cybersecurity, through collaboration with the private sector and other international stakeholders, can enable the South African public sector to mitigate cyberattack risks (DPSA 2024).

Bureaucracy is characterised by engagement in politics and is closely associated with hierarchical organisational structures. Whereas bureaucracy plays an adverse role in the uptake of EDTs and innovative practices, it has been viewed as a stumbling block to the public sector’s effective adoption and implementation of digital technological initiatives (Marienfeldt 2024; Mergel et al. 2023). Scholars confirm that EDTs have thrived in the traditional bureaucratic paradigm and, to a great extent, digital technologies have improved decision-making processes and, thus, curtailed face-to-face contact (United Nations 2024). For instance, the use of virtual platforms (e.g. Microsoft Teams) by the South African public sector has profoundly improved the channel of communication and the implementation of organisational strategies, thereby enhancing the flexibility of information sharing and accelerating the internal processes that surpass the conventional modus operandi (i.e. bureaucracy). In this sense, these platforms have expedited interactions among public services while convening online meetings and workshops. Most imperatively, while the traditional paradigm has been linked to corrupt and fraudulent activities by public servants, the digital government has been said to mitigate those contradictory activities, leading to increased efficiency and productivity (Marienfeldt 2024; Nkgapele 2024). From this vantage point, this study argues that while digital government has exceptionally improved public administration and ensured transparency and accountability by public officials, bureaucracy has been considerably streamlined.

Literature suggests that EDTs in an ethically driven environment have increased operational efficiency and value creation to citizens (Alhosani & Alhashmi 2024; Madan & Ashok 2023). When social trust is enhanced and warranted through data privacy and security, citizens can feel safe to utilise digital technologies to access essential services and vice versa. For example, because of the social trust developed between the South African government and its people, nowadays, there is a proliferating number of citizens who utilise the SARS e-filing platforms to submit their tax returns (Adegbayibi & Ajape 2025). Consequently, this has drastically reduced long queues, thus leading to increased efficiency and seamless public services (Jakoet-Salie 2020). More notably, for people earning less than R500 thousand per annum, SARS has introduced an initiative that automatically files their tax returns. That being said, citizens have surmounted the geographic distance and unnecessary travel to government buildings to access public services, which has significantly minimised the costs associated with transportation. Generally speaking, several scholars opine that aside from other benefits brought about by the EDTs, increased operational efficiency has been evident in ensuring cost-effective and streamlined public services to the citizens (Abdullah Sani & Jaafar 2025; Ionescu 2025; Valle-Cruz & García-Contreras 2025). Additionally, while EDTs augment administrative efficiency in rendering public services, they also diminish possible human errors that can be encountered and, as such, increase accountability (Komna & Mpungose 2024).

Accordingly, ethical EDTs have enabled the public sector to reap economic rewards apart from increased productivity (Alhosani & Alhashmi 2024). This is supported by Mkhatshwa and Mawela (2023), who cite that the uptake of EDTs (e.g. cloud computing) by the public sectors has radically improved the productivity of public employees, enhanced the decision-making procedure and fast-tracked the digital government substantially. Moreover, a corpus of literature corroborates that ethical EDTs (e.g. AI) have imperatively alleviated the workloads of public servants, thereby increasing their employee morale and productivity (Bajpai & Singh 2024; Madan & Ashok 2023; Saheb & Saheb 2024). It is argued that despite challenges encountered in the public sectors (including the lack of digital infrastructure and digital expertise) to operate in the digital domain, specifically in emerging economies, digital technologies have boosted the degree of public servants’ engagement and, by so doing, intensified their performance and productivity (Milukutu & Siachisa 2023). Furthermore, this argument is consistent with the views of Bawole and Langnel (2023), who articulate that emerging economies like Ghana have been plagued with continuous hindrances (such as costly data, unreliable Internet connectivity and inadequate digital competencies), which derailed the implementation of public sector reforms through digitalised public services. Bawole and Langnel (2023) assert that these hindrances have negatively affected public servants’ productivity and the provision of services to the citizens.

This section presents ethical concerns and issues related to different EDTs in this study in response to the second research objective.

Given the foregoing scholarly debates, there is a need to develop an ethical framework for navigating EDTs in the South African public sector. The following serves as the components of the framework.

The primary objective of this study was to present a conceptual framework for ethical EDTs (mainly AI, the IoT, big data, cloud computing and virtual platforms) of the South African public sector. Given the absence of ethical frameworks for navigating EDTs in the South African public sector, this study proposes a conceptual framework to guide the public sector’s policymakers, designers, practitioners, strategists and ICT developers in ensuring that ethical principles and standards are embedded into EDTs. The ethical principles include transparency, accountability, fairness, privacy and security. To this end, however, the implications of this study can enable the three spheres of government (national, provincial and local) in South Africa to devise strategies and propose policy development initiatives that are crucial for addressing ethical concerns regarding EDTs in rendering public administration and providing public services to the citizens and manifold stakeholders.

While the study has identified the benefits of incorporating ethics into EDTs, it also sheds further light on the ethical issues associated with disparate EDTs, which are prevalent in improving public services to citizens. More concretely, this study contributes to the body of knowledge in the IS and public administration research disciplines by critically delving into the ethical conundrums and dilemmas impacting EDTs in the public sector, culminating in the development of a conceptual framework. The conceptual framework offers a valuable understanding and new insights regarding ethical principles that can be of paramount significance to other scholars in academia, particularly in the South African context and other emerging economies facing similar challenges. It is proposed that the South African public sector adopt the conceptual framework in the process of assimilating EDTs into the value chain while also investing in skills development, digital infrastructure and reliable Internet connectivity, especially in rural areas where marginalised and designated groups are located.

As the study focused on systematic analysis using the PRISMA technique, future studies can conduct empirical research using both quantitative (e.g. survey questionnaires) and qualitative methods and materials (e.g. focus groups, in-depth interviews and case studies) to gather primary data directly from participants. This can enable the validation of the study’s findings. More to this, while considering a larger sample for a quantitative approach can offer generalisability of research findings, in-depth interviews, on the other hand, can provide insight into the ethical application of EDTs in the public sector. Furthermore, the suggested conceptual framework developed in this study can be tested through the underlying approaches stressed above (quantitative and qualitative).