Digital Transformation in Institutional Communication: A Systematic Review of Transparency, Trust, and Organizational Culture

Abstract

This study aims to analyze digital transformation in institutions as a structural shift that reshapes the logic of communication, patterns of power, and mechanisms of trust building within organizations. This study is grounded in the assumption that digitalization is no longer limited to the adoption of technical tools but has evolved into an organizational and governance framework driven by algorithms and recommendation platforms, with direct implications for communication practices, levels of transparency, and organizational culture. This study adopts a descriptive–analytical approach based on a critical review of peer-reviewed academic research published from 2019 until the beginning of 2026. To ensure methodological rigor and transparency, the review process follows the PRISMA guidelines. Relevant studies were identified through comprehensive searches of major academic databases (Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar), and the final sample contained all scholarly publications that address digital transformation in institutional communication within the specified timeframe. The number of studies that met the conditions amounted to 92 studies and reports. The sample draws on several theoretical frameworks, including technological determinism, communication visibility, diffusion of innovations, and uses and gratifications, thereby enabling a comprehensive examination of the relationship between digital transformation and institutional communication from a closed hierarchical model into an interactive networked system increasingly shaped by algorithmic logics and governance mechanisms that redistribute visibility and influence within institutions. The results suggest that the success of digital transformation is more closely associated with organizational culture and transformational digital leadership than with technical infrastructure alone. Moreover, audiences have become active co-producers of meaning and trust through interaction and user-generated content. In conclusion, digital transparency and organizational communication visibility constitute key foundations of institutional trust, highlighting the need for clear frameworks of digital transformation, particularly in the Arab context.