Operational Interface Governance, Digital Capability, and Resilience Support in Cross-Border Critical Infrastructure: A Capability-Pathway Perspective

Cross-border critical infrastructure operations depend on aligned information, authorization, and coordination interfaces across organizations and jurisdictions. This study examines operational interface governance scenario (OIGS) as an upstream condition associated with digital capability and its translation into resistance and recovery support. Resilience support denotes the focal operating organization’s perceived support role rather than overall system resilience. Drawing on the dynamic capabilities perspective, a between-subjects scenario-based survey of 371 practitioners was analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) and bias-corrected bootstrapping. Enhanced OIGS was positively associated with digital capability, which was positively associated with strategic sensing, timely decision-making, and change implementation capabilities. Direct paths from digital capability to both resilience-support dimensions were supported; timely decision-making had the strongest supported direct path to recovery support. Change implementation capability was not supported as a direct predictor of recovery support because its 95% bias-corrected bootstrap confidence interval included zero, whereas the OIGS–digital capability–change implementation capability–recovery support chain pathway was supported. The findings characterize cross-border infrastructure resilience support as a governance and capability process and support pairing interface governance with digital investment.