Abstract

This study focuses on the analysis of digital transformation as a challenge for public administrations in Chile, considering the impetus behind the process under Law No. 21,180 on the Digital Transformation of the State. Focusing on the municipalities of the Biobío Region, it aims to analyze their institutional capacities to produce, collect, evaluate, and use data within the framework of digital transformation. The article is structured in three parts: first, a theoretical exposition that connects the concepts of digital governance, digital transformation, institutional capacities, and territorial intelligence; second, a methodological strategy is presented, centered on focus groups and interviews with municipal and regional officials. The results allow us to conclude that institutional capacities for the use of data in the municipalities of the Biobío Region present an uneven development conditioned by the absence of a strategic vision, lack of technical profiles, informal practices of data exchange and the poor interoperability of information systems, so it is essential to promote management that fosters the strategic value of data, along with developing organizational management capacities that combine political leadership with an institutional culture favorable to the use of data.