Blockchain Applications and Governance Implications in the Public Sector: A Literature Review

Background: Blockchain is increasingly recognized as a transformative enabler of e-governance, offering capabilities to enhance transparency, efficiency, security, and citizen trust in public-sector administration. However, widespread adoption remains constrained by persistent technical, regulatory, and socio-institutional challenges, particularly the absence of coherent governance frameworks across jurisdictions.Objective: This study aims to systematically map the evolution of blockchain applications in e-governance, identify dominant research themes and collaboration patterns, and highlight governance-related challenges that inform future policy and research agenda.Methods: A systematic analysis was performed on 196 publications indexed in Scopus, covering the period 2019-2025, selected to capture the rapid growth of blockchain-related e-governance research. The PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) protocol guided the screening process, while a bibliometric analysis using Biblioshiny examined publication trends, country contributions, collaboration networks, and thematic clusters.Results: The analysis shows that research output peaked in 2022 and subsequently shifted toward more domain-specific and applied applications, including e-voting, land administration, taxation, intellectual property, and academic credentialing. China, India, and the United States emerged as the most active contributors, though with markedly different collaboration patterns and governance approaches. Key challenges identified across the literature include interoperability limitations, scalability and cybersecurity risks, fragmented regulatory environments, and uneven institutional capacity. These findings highlight the critical role of governance frameworks in enabling sustainable and interoperable blockchain adoption in public-sector contexts.Conclusion: Blockchain represents both a technological and institutional innovation with significant potential to reshape e-governance. Its sustainable adoption requires interdisciplinary collaboration, coherent governance frameworks, and alignment between technological capabilities and regulatory-institutional readiness. Ultimately, blockchain's transformative value lies in bridging innovation with practical governance to enhance transparency, accountability, and citizen confidence in public services.