Ordinary Workforce to Smart Force: Digital Governance Skills, Employee Empowerment, and Smart Governance Readiness in a Philippine Local Government Context

Digital transformation in local government requires employees to develop competencies and organizational support to adapt to evolving technologies and governance demands. This study assessed digital governance skills, employee empowerment, and smart governance readiness among employees in the City Government of Muntinlupa. It determined significant differences according to demographic characteristics, examined relationships among the study variables, and developed a strategic framework based on the findings. A descriptive-correlational research design was employed involving 351 employees. Data were gathered using a survey questionnaire subjected to expert validation and pilot testing and analyzed using frequency, percentage, General Weighted Mean, Mann–Whitney U Test, Kruskal–Wallis H Test, and Spearman rank-order correlation. Findings revealed favorable levels of digital governance skills, employee empowerment, and smart governance readiness. Adaptive capacity, access to training and development, and inclusiveness of governance were the highest-rated dimensions, respectively. Significant differences were observed in digital governance skills by educational attainment and employee empowerment by gender. Digital governance skills showed a statistically significant but weak negative association with smart governance readiness, while other relationships were not significant. The findings emphasize the need to strengthen workforce capabilities, leadership support, innovation, inclusive and citizen-centered services, data-driven governance, and continuous monitoring. Accordingly, a strategic framework was proposed to support workforce development, institutional strengthening, and sustainable digital governance.