Politeknik Indonusa Surakarta, Indonesia.
Universitas Widya Dharma, Klaten, Indonesia.
Politeknik Indonusa Surakarta, Indonesia.
Politeknik Indonusa Surakarta, Indonesia.
Universitas Sebelas Maret, Surakarta, Indonesia.
The paradox of urban digital transformation—immense opportunity shadowed by significant risks such as digital divides, misinformation, and cybersecurity threats—requires a unified, multi-sector collaborative effort. The Penta Helix model, which theoretically convenes academia, business, government, community, and media, is a framework increasingly adopted in developing nations to organize and govern such efforts. However, its practical application and actual effectiveness in fostering sustainable digital literacy resilience, a crucial component of urban defense against digital risks, remain an underresearched topic. This study addresses this critical gap through an in-depth qualitative case study of Surakarta, Indonesia, a city actively pursuing smart city status. Drawing on semistructured interviews with seven key Penta Helix actors representing each of the five sectors, alongside a thematic analysis of public policy documents and municipal reports, this paper investigates the collaborative dynamics shaping the city’s digital literacy initiatives. The findings uncover a critical ‘evaluation gap’ across the ecosystem, defined by a profound lack of shared, outcome-based metrics and integrated monitoring processes, which prevents any collective understanding of programmatic impact. Consequently, the ecosystem operates not as a coordinated coalition but as a fragmented system with significant collaborative challenges. Actors have settled into emergent, specialized roles—such as academia focusing on foundational training and community groups on grassroots dissemination—which, while complementary, exist in programmatic silos with minimal inter-sectoral communication. This fragmentation, characterized by redundant efforts and a lack of integrated strategy, hinders the overall impact. Furthermore, this siloed approach means any alignment with broader Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), such as SDG 4 (Quality Education) and SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities), is largely implicit and opportunistic rather than strategic. This research provides a practical, grounded critique of the Penta Helix model in action, concluding that creating a truly resilient digital community is impossible without an integrated, evidence-based strategy, one that moves beyond siloed actions toward a system-wide, data-driven governance model.

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