Chapter 13 - A bibliometric analysis of GCC healthcare digital transformation

Abstract

From diagnosing to preventing the spread of coronavirus, digital transformation and innovative technology have demonstrated their ability to play a key role in every aspect of the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, digital transformation goes beyond the application of artificial intelligence (AI) to increase productivity; it is currently reaching the large population in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and has a significant impact on both work and daily life. This study aims to evaluate the GCC's various contributions to scientific publications on digital transformation, focusing on the methods used to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and protect community well-being, including the most recent AI applications for COVID-19 safety measures, symptom detection, and remote healthcare. The research methodology used in this study is based on bibliometric analysis, a collection of strategies for analyzing vast amounts of bibliographic data by combining mathematical, statistical, and computer techniques. A set of publications is retrieved from three databases, Scopus, Web of Science (WoS), and lens.org. Then, VOSviewer is used to extract quantitative publication metrics and visualize coexisting networks of key terms extracted during the last 5years. This study focuses on the Scopus database while the WoS and the Lens databases are left for the user as an active learning process with some research directions in exploring bibliometric analysis in healthcare and digital transformation. From 2017 to 2021, 1520 healthcare, AI, and digital transformation documents were retrieved from the Scopus database using the journals’ abstract, title, and keywords “TILE-ABS-KEY” sections. Results show that the total number of published documents in the GCC in healthcare and AI increased from 107 papers in 2017 to 720 papers in 2021. Furthermore, the number of citations jumped from 44 in 2017 to more than 4600 in 2021. The most active country was Saudi Arabia, followed by United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, and Bahrain. Three of the top five most active institutions were from Saudi Arabia—King Saud University, King Abdulaziz University, and Imam Abdulrahman University—followed by the University of Sharjah from the UAE and Qatar University. Out of the 1520 documents retrieved, 20.6% were published in medicine, 18.6% in computer science, and 9.4% in engineering. Our findings indicate that AI and healthcare research are generally well established within each country, with more advancement in Saudi Arabia and UAE, but need more collaborative research between the GCC. This study provides a comprehensive overview of the bibliometric analysis of GCC healthcare digital transformation and AI, which may help researchers, policymakers, and practitioners better understand healthcare needs and development within the GCC.