Public Trust and the Service-Participation Gap in Digital Government: Evidence from Kendari, Indonesia

Digital government is expected to support efficient service delivery and participatory government–citizen relations. This study examines service quality, public trust, user satisfaction, and digital participation among users of digital government services in Kendari City, Indonesia, and considers their implications for partnership-oriented local governance in relation to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Targets 17.16 and 17.17. A cross-sectional survey of 213 purposively selected users was analysed using descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, Pearson correlations, multiple linear regression, and Kruskal–Wallis tests. Service quality (M = 3.81), public trust (M = 3.91), and user satisfaction (M = 4.08) were rated more positively than digital participation (M = 3.29), while digital feedback received the lowest item score (M = 2.59). Digital participation was positively correlated with all three predictors. The regression model was significant, F(3, 209) = 7.160, p < .001, explaining 9.3% of the variance in participation. Public trust showed a significant positive association with participation (β = .198, p = .005), whereas service quality was not significant and user satisfaction was at the conventional significance boundary. Participation did not differ significantly across age or educational groups. The findings reveal a service-participation gap: favourable service experiences do not automatically translate into active citizen input. Digital participation may therefore provide a foundation for partnership-oriented local governance, but not direct evidence of multi-stakeholder partnerships or SDG achievement.