Administrative Capacity in the Implementation of Digital Population Administration Services: A Literature Review of the KNG Program in Surabaya City Government
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.70062/dynamicssocial.v2i1.262Keywords:
Administrative Capacity, Digital Government, Digital Population Administration, Good Governance, Local GovernmentAbstract
Digital transformation has become a central agenda in local governments seeking to improve the effectiveness, accessibility, and reliability of public service delivery, particularly in population administration services that constitute the legal foundation of citizenship. In Indonesia, the Surabaya City Government has implemented the Klampid New Generation (KNG) program as an integrated digital platform for population administration services, aiming to streamline civil registration processes, enhance service quality, and expand citizen access. Despite its technological ambition, the implementation of digital population administration services continues to face persistent challenges related to administrative capacity, especially at the municipal level where services are operationalized and directly experienced by citizens. This issue raises an urgent academic and practical question regarding how administrative capacity shapes the performance and sustainability of digital public services within the broader digital government transformation. This article aims to synthesize and critically evaluate the existing scholarly literature on administrative capacity in the implementation of digital population administration services, with analytical relevance to the KNG program in Surabaya City Government. Employing an integrative literature review design, the study systematically examines peer-reviewed journal articles published between 2021 and 2025, retrieved from Scopus, DOAJ, Google Scholar, and SINTA databases. Articles were selected based on predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria and analyzed using thematic and conceptual synthesis techniques. The review identifies key dimensions of administrative capacity that consistently influence digital service implementation, including institutional and organizational arrangements, human resource competence, technological and infrastructural readiness, regulatory and procedural alignment, inter-organizational coordination, and the role of street-level bureaucrats in frontline service delivery.
References
Administration & Society. (2024). The role of street-level bureaucrats in digital public service implementation. Administration & Society, 57(1), 154–181. https://doi.org/10.1177/00953997241296100
Chen, Y., & Lee, J. (2024). Can e-government online services offer enhanced national governance capacity? Journal of Innovation & Knowledge, 9(2), 100430. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jik.2024.100430
Dunleavy, P., Margetts, H., Bastow, S., & Tinkler, J. (2006). New public management is dead—Long live digital-era governance. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 16(3), 467–494. https://doi.org/10.1093/jopart/mui057
Fitriani, Nurmandi, A., Lawelai, H., Kasiwi, A. N., & Younus, M. (2025). Trends and challenges of digital transformation in the public sector: Policy implications for improving public services in Indonesia. Aristo, 13(2), 681–705. https://doi.org/10.24269/ars.v13i2.11288
Gascó-Hernandez, M., Nasi, G., Cucciniello, M., & Hiedemann, A. M. (2022). The role of organizational capacity to foster digital transformation in local governments: The case of three European smart cities. Urban Governance, 2(2), 236–246. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ugj.2022.09.005
Haug, N., Dan, S., & Mergel, I. (2024). Digitally induced change in the public sector: A systematic review and research agenda. Public Management Review, 26(7), 1963–1987. https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2023.2234917
Isabella, Agustian, E., Baharuddin, T., & Ibrahim, A. H. H. (2025). Bridging e-government with digital literacy: A literature review. Journal of Governance and Regulation, 14(1, Special Issue), 361–371. https://doi.org/10.22495/jgrv14i1siart12
Marienfeldt, J. (2024). Does digital government hollow out the essence of street-level bureaucracy? A systematic literature review of how digital tools foster curtailment, enablement, and continuation of street-level decision-making. Social Policy & Administration, 58(5), 831–855. https://doi.org/10.1111/spol.12991
Mora, L., Kummitha, R. K. R., & Esposito, G. (2021). Not everything is as it seems: Digital technology affordance, pandemic control, and the mediating role of sociomaterial arrangements. Government Information Quarterly, 38(4), Article 101599. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2021.101599
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2023). Digital government review of Türkiye. OECD Publishing. https://www.oecd.org/digital/digital-government-review-of-turkiye
Sedlmeir, J., Smethurst, R., Rieger, A., & Fridgen, G. (2021). Digital identities and verifiable credentials. Business & Information Systems Engineering, 63(5), 603–613. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12599-021-00722-y
Tokovská, M., Buček, J., & Nemec, J. (2023). E-government—The inclusive way for the future of digital citizenship. Societies, 13(6), 141. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc13060141
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. (2024). United Nations e-government survey 2024: Accelerating digital transformation for sustainable development. https://desapublications.un.org/publications/united-nations-e-government-survey-2024
Wessiani, N. A., Djunaedi, A., & Subarsono, A. (2025). From initiation to development: Key factors shaping digital transformation in local government (Surabaya City Government case). Journal of Social and Humaniora Studies, 7(1), 45–62. https://ajosh.org/index.php/jsh/article/download/625/801
Xu, X., Li, Y., & Zhang, J. (2024). Evaluation of local government digital governance capacity and sustainable development: Evidence from subnational governments. Sustainability, 16(14), 6084. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16146084
Zainudin. (2025). Digital ID policy in support of digital transformation in Indonesia. Jurnal Bina Praja, 17(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.21787/jbp.17.2025.1-18

