Green ICT as governance: integrating digital sustainability into public administration transformation

Purpose This study aims to examine how green information and communication technology (green ICT) has been conceptualized within digital governance and public administration research and reconceptualizes it as an institutional governance mechanism for sustainable digital administration. Design/methodology/approach This study uses bibliometric and scientometric analysis of 587 Scopus-indexed journal articles published between 2016 and 2025 using VOSviewer and Bibliometrix to map the intellectual structure, thematic evolution and theoretical fragmentation of green ICT research. Findings The findings reveal persistent fragmentation between technological, sustainability and governance perspectives in green ICT scholarship. Sustainability remains predominantly positioned as an external policy outcome rather than an embedded governance principle within digital public administration. This study further identifies the growing emergence of governance-oriented approaches linking digital transformation, administrative capacity and public value creation. Originality/value This paper develops an integrative governance framework positioning green ICT as an institutional governance mechanism that embeds sustainability within the core architecture of digital public administration.