Article
DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION CHALLENGES IN LOCAL BUREAUCRATIC REFORM: EVIDENCE FROM KONAWE SELATAN REGENCY, INDONESIA
Journal Publicuho, Vol. 9 No. 1 (2026), hlm. 676–691
Abstrak
Digital transformation has become a central component of contemporary bureaucratic reform, yet its outcomes remain uneven, particularly within decentralised governance systems where local governments implement nationally mandated digital initiatives. This article examines how institutional and organisational conditions shape digital transformation outcomes in local bureaucratic reform, using Konawe Selatan Regency, Indonesia, as an empirical case. Employing a qualitative evaluative design, the study draws on documentary analysis conducted during the evaluation of the 2015–2019 reform cycle and the preparation of the 2020–2024 bureaucratic reform roadmap, complemented by five semi-structured interviews with anonymised key informants involved in reform coordination and administrative digitalization. The findings show that digital transformation functioned less as a technological modernization process than as an institutional change shaped by existing administrative routines, coordination arrangements, organizational capacity, and leadership priorities. Four interrelated dimensions influenced outcomes: institutional framing, organisational coordination, administrative capability, and leadership alignment. Digital initiatives were frequently interpreted as compliance instruments, implemented through fragmented structures, constrained by uneven skills, and weakly integrated into political agendas. As a result, digitalisation improved administrative visibility but produced limited organisational transformation. The study contributes by reframing digital transformation challenges as institutional alignment problems rather than technological deficiencies. Practically, it suggests that local governments should govern digital reform as organisational change by aligning technology adoption with coordination mechanisms, capability development, and sustained political ownership to achieve meaningful governance transformation.