E-Government in Stagnation: The Case of Digital Inertia in E-PPID Implementation at the Bali Provincial Election Commission

Abstract

This research departs from the paradox between the progress of the government's digital transformation agenda and the stagnation of e-government implementation at the regional level, especially in the Electronic Information and Documentation Management Officer (E-PPID) service of the Bali Provincial General Election Commission (KPU). This study aims to analyze the characteristics of digital inertia that emerge and develop in the management of E-PPID in the Bali Provincial KPU. The method employed is qualitative, utilizing a case study design with an interpretive approach. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with five key informants, direct observation of system management, and documentation studies, and then analyzed using the interactive model developed by Miles, Huberman, and Saldaña. The results of the study show that digital inertia is formed through the interaction between the social realm and the material realm: on the one hand, a bureaucratic culture that maintains manual procedures, human resource rotation without systematic knowledge transfer, and dependence on central instruction; on the other hand, the limitations of technological infrastructure, centralized management of servers and Open Data, small document upload capacity, and reactive security responses. These two domains form a feedback loop that reproduces stagnation and decreases the quality of public information disclosure. The research concludes that sustainable digital transformation requires simultaneous intervention on the social and material dimensions, strengthening infrastructure and human resource capacity, and balancing authority between the central and regional KPU so that E-PPID truly functions as an instrument of democratic accountability.