Nila Firdausi Nuzula

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
Public sector innovation has become increasingly critical as governments face accelerating digitalization and rising demands for efficient, transparent, and responsive public services. However, digital transformation initiatives in public organizations do not automatically generate innovation capability, particularly in bureaucratic environments that require adaptive organizational mechanisms. This study aims to examine the influence of digital transformational leadership on innovation capability through the mediating roles of organizational agility and digital transformation in public organizations. A quantitative explanatory approach was employed using survey data collected from January to May 2025 from 164 structural officials involved in digital transformation and service innovation programs in Indonesian public organizations. These respondents were selected because of their strategic roles in formulating and implementing digital initiatives and organizational change. The data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to evaluate both measurement and structural models. The findings indicate that digital transformational leadership significantly strengthens organizational agility and digital transformation, while organizational agility also reinforces digital transformation. However, digital transformational leadership does not directly influence innovation capability. Instead, innovation capability emerges through the mediating roles of organizational agility and digital transformation. These results highlight that innovation in public organizations is generated through the development of adaptive organizational capabilities rather than leadership alone. The study contributes by proposing an integrative model explaining how digital leadership activates dynamic capabilities that lead to innovation. Practically, the findings suggest that strengthening digital leadership, organizational agility, and integrated digital transformation strategies is essential for improving public service innovation.

Acknowledgments
The authors sincerely thank Brawijaya University and the Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education Agency (LPDP) for their support during the completion of this study.