Digital transformation (DT) is a strategic imperative for governments that aim to improve their services and efficiency. Despite high expectations regarding DT practices, there is limited empirical evidence on how governments are approaching DT in a hierarchical bureaucracy context and how flexibility is created to enable progression. In this research, we employed a case study approach to investigate and analyze DT based on relevant events occurring in a five-year period. A conceptual model was created by combining the diamond framework, the technology enactment framework, and enterprise architecture scope to facilitate the chronological analysis of these events and reflect upon the creation of flexibility. The findings indicate that DT in government spreads in waves with adaptations in different organizational elements, impacting the whole administrative system from the provincial level to the country level and including both radical and incremental changes. Flexibility increases alongside progress in DT and can be technology-enabled or policy-enabled. The creation of flexibility also depends on organizational elements and bureaucratic levels. This study advocates a cross-level view to comprehensively understand DT and offers insights to help other governments craft DT agenda.

对于旨在改善其服务和效率的政府而言，数字化转型（DT）是一项战略要务。尽管人们对DT做法抱有很高的期望，但是关于政府如何在等级制官僚主义背景下采用DT以及如何创造灵活性以促进进步的经验证据有限。在这项研究中，我们采用了案例研究的方法，根据五年期间发生的相关事件调查和分析DT。通过将菱形框架，技术制定框架和企业体系结构范围相结合，创建了一个概念模型，以促进对这些事件进行按时间顺序的分析并反思灵活性的创建。研究结果表明，政府中的DT会随着不同组织元素的适应而波动，影响从省级到国家级的整个行政体系，包括根本性和增量性变化。灵活性随着DT的进步而增加，并且可以启用技术或启用策略。灵活性的产生还取决于组织要素和官僚级别。这项研究提倡跨层次的观点来全面理解DT，并提供见解以帮助其他政府制定DT议程。