<![CDATA[Digital transformation has become central to Indonesian public administration reform, yet evidence on its implementation remains disproportionately urban. This study evaluates e-government innovation in six rural and remote village administrations in Bengkulu Province. A qualitative evaluative case-study design was used, combining twelve focus group discussions, approximately sixty hours of field observation, documentary review, and an integrated evaluation matrix covering system usability, rural accessibility, administrative capacity, and public-service outcomes. The findings show that digitalisation has advanced most strongly in internal reporting and document production, while citizen-facing transactional services remain limited. The overall maturity mean was 2.1 on a four-point scale, placing the sample between emerging and functional. The weakest areas were offline and low-bandwidth tolerance, inclusivity for vulnerable groups, continuity and succession, and complaint handling, each averaging 1.3. Leadership commitment was comparatively high (2.8), but implementation remained fragile because digital competence was concentrated in a single operator, connectivity was uneven, and formal platforms were poorly aligned with village work routines. Informal messaging applications compensated for these weaknesses but created new risks related to continuity, data governance, and unequal access. The study integrates these findings through a Rural e-Government Readiness and Realisation framework, distinguishing the availability of digital capacity from its actual conversion into accessible and resilient public services. Rural digital reform should therefore prioritise connectivity thresholds, institutionalised staff competence, process redesign, and inclusive service assurance rather than platform adoption alone.]]>
