Digitalization and prevention of corruption: Opportunities and risks—Some evidence from the Italian university system

Abstract Digitalization is a largely ongoing process, affecting the sustainability of the social, economic and administrative systems of all countries. Our work focuses on the public sector and specifically on the university system. We explore the challenge of digital change and its contribution to transparency and anti‐corruption policies, with a look to the opportunities and risks associated with the adoption of digital approaches. Using the content analysis tool, we investigate the efforts of Italian universities in digital transformation and their ability to integrate digitalization with anti‐corruption strategies. Findings reveal that most of these institutions are actively addressing the challenge of digitalization, but few of them consider it as a strategy to strengthen anti‐corruption and transparency, and even fewer assess the risk deriving from adoption of digital technologies. On the basis of our results, an appropriate benchmarking/benchlearning process would bring advantages in the dissemination of best practices in Italian public university system.