Digital Governance in Border Areas: Challenges and Strategies for Transforming Public Services in Kapuas Hulu Regency

Abstract

This study pioneers the Border-Adaptive Digital Governance (BADG) model, which uniquely integrates national security dimensions with fiscal accountability in high-cost regions, distinguishing it from existing studies of urban digital governance. The objective of the study is to analyze the impact of digital-based program governance on increasing budget transparency and formulating adaptive public service transformation strategies for border regions. The research method used is descriptive qualitative with a library research approach, applying Creswell data analysis techniques (reduction, presentation, and conclusion drawing) to synthesize policy documents and performance reports. The study focuses on the digital transformation phenomenon in Kapuas Hulu Regency during the 2021–2026 strategic planning period. Empirical results show that although the realization of the BKPSDM budget reached 97.01% through the acceleration of the SI PLASMA and ASN Berpijar applications, the level of resource utilization efficiency is still very low at 2.99%. This is driven by extreme geographical challenges and the high Construction Cost Index (Indeks Kemahalan Konstruksi [IKK]) in border areas, which reached 123.34, as well as the limited digital competencies of local officials. The practical implications of this research emphasize the need for the establishment of a Joint Digital Command Center (JDCC) to synergize civil-military data in order to maintain information sovereignty and economic security at the forefront of the Republic of Indonesia.