Authors - Samira Boulahbel-Bachari, Hind Dib-Slamani Abstract - This study examines digital governance transformation trajectories across fourteen Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries between 2010 and 2024. Rather than classifying countries as simple “leaders” or “laggards,” it adopts a multidimensional framework covering digital governance, digital infrastructure, inclusion, institutional capacity, and economic capacity. Entropy weighting derives indicator weights, TOPSIS ranks countries according to their proximity to the best observed transformation profile, while hierarchical clustering identifies shared trajectory patterns. Robustness is assessed through VIKOR and principal component analysis. The results reveal marked regional heterogeneity. Saudi Arabia leads the ranking, followed by Türkiye, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates, while Morocco shows a balanced trajectory despite more limited economic resources. Other countries display differentiated progress across connectivity, online services, and institutional conditions, with Tunisia and Lebanon occupying the lowest relative positions. The findings show that progress in aggregate e-government scores does not necessarily reflect coherent digital governance development across all dimensions. The study advances a trajectory-based view of digital governance and offers a practical basis for regional benchmarking and policy prioritization in heterogeneous contexts.
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