Digital Empowerment and Grassroots Governance Transformation: A TOE Framework Analysis of Public Service Optimization in Sichuan Province

In the digital age, digital resources are naturally sustainable, and they have become the basic technologies and platforms by which to maintain the sustainable development of the social economy. At a time when global epidemic prevention and control are becoming increasingly dynamic, digital empowerment has become a basic tool by which to promote sustainable social and economic development. In terms of digital empowerment, grassroots digital empowerment has become the most critical and urgent link to strengthen. In this study, a literature analysis using CiteSpace and NVivo software shows that the research prospects of grassroots digital governance are broad, but there is a lack of communication and cooperation between the research subjects, and a cooperative network of close and benign interaction has not been formed. There are many hot topics in the research, mainly focusing on five aspects: digitalization, grassroots governance, digital governance, digital technology, and digital countryside. The theme of these papers is changing to digital empowerment, technology empowerment, and “digital intelligence governance”. These characteristics and problems correspond to the practice of digital governance at the grassroots level in China. Therefore, in the theory and practice of Chinese grassroots digital governance, we must adhere to the problem-oriented principle and take “problem-driven” as the basic logic of grassroots digital governance. At the same time, it is necessary to consider the complexity of China’s grassroots communities and the stages of governance technology, adhere to the principles of integrated development and collaborative innovation, and take “mixed governance” as the main logic of grassroots digital governance. Generally speaking, we should realize optimization in the innovation of grassroots digital governance from three aspects, namely, strengthening the integration of grassroots digital systems, improving the ability to solve the problems of digital governance, and advancing the transformation of grassroots digital governance with incremental governance logic.

Comprehensive practice education is an integral part of the basic education curriculum, aiming to train students to connect textbook knowledge with real-world life through hands-on manipulations and in-person experiences in off-campus settings. In response to the challenges arising in the current enactment of the comprehensive practice curriculum in Chinese county-level schools, the Tianfu New District Educational Science Institute of China’s Sichuan Province developed the “cloud-based study tour” model to leverage local cultural and social resources to advance comprehensive practice education. Strategies, such as digital empowerment and curriculum development partnerships, were adopted. This article focuses on expounding on the positive roles of the “cloud-based study tour” in supporting regionally balanced, high-quality practical education by fully utilizing digital technologies and partnerships in curriculum development.

Building a higher-level public service system for national fitness is an important cornerstone for accelerating the construction of a sports powerhouse, and it is an inherent requirement that meets the people's expectations for a high-quality life. Digital empowerment will become an effective engine and sustained driving force for achieving high-quality supply of public services for national fitness. Through research, an analysis was conducted on the current situation and challenges of a higher-level public service system for national fitness. The study suggests that a wider range of participants are required by a higher-level public service system for national fitness, which requires a renewed understanding of human needs. A stronger element support requires overall system governance, and a more balanced resource layout requires full utilization of data platforms. This study proposes suggestions: to strengthen the construction of digital infrastructure for public sports services; Accelerate the construction of digital talent teams for public sports services; Establish a mechanism for sharing information and data on public sports services, and strengthen the construction of digital technology governance mechanisms for public sports services. Research aimed at promoting the construction of a digital empowerment public sports service system.

In the time of aging, creating high-quality elderly care is key to improving social well-being in China. Strengthening digital empowerment and thus improving digital management, technologies and products such as the Internet technology, cloud computing, big data, and intelligent hardware becomes the main force of technological innovation. This paper demonstrates that digital empowerment have enabled the mountainous counties to achieve three major outcomes including "digital management" and thus to optimize self-service and solve the pain points and difficulties of medical treatment, "smart nursing" and thus to optimize personalized services and life cycle services, "data running" and thus to optimize platform services and the public's happiness etc. It illustrates also related five issues includes the widespread unsatisfactory to digital management, resource allocation does not match the ability and living habits of the elderly; financial support fails to meet rigid needs of healthy living and timely care; home stay service lacks health knowledge, nursing skills, psychological counseling, and medical service, insufficient information preservation for data operation. Integrating action research results and survey of digital application scenarios, this research concludes five suggestions for coming high-quality development of elderly care in mountainous counties. 1. Better four major system software include the old-age service information management system, the old-age service basic database, the public old-age service system and other support systems，therefore to improve the management capabilities of the old-age service. 2. Optimize six intelligent systems include intelligent health monitoring, active care, information warning, electronic fence, fall alarm, and remote viewing, therefore adapt to individual abilities and living habits. 3. Upgrading seven auxiliary equipment include bed-off sensor, multi-functional vital sign nursing mattress, automatic roll-over bed, health monitoring equipment, wetness sensor, smart toilet, and QR code label, therefore close to the needs of healthy life and nursing. 4. Follow up three major service trainings include work values and management theories, job development and application evaluation, digital empowerment and overall development, therefore to ensure professional support for industry development. 5. Grasp the subject and structure, mining and collection, key points and pain points, image and intuition, objectivity and fairness, standardization and unity in information analysis, therefore do a good job in the work ledger of daily reports.

Purpose This study investigates the mechanisms of digital empowerment in manufacturing enterprise transformation. This is a critical but underexplored strategic objective. It aims to clarify the differentiated pathways through which digital technologies enable transformation across operational, procedural, and systemic dimensions. Design/methodology/approach The research uses a multi-method approach. The subject-action-object (SAO) framework guides the analysis. Knowledge graphs and meta-analysis identify key influencing factors. ElasticNet regression determines context-specific factor combinations for different transformation aspects. Case studies validate quantitative findings and synthesize reform mechanisms. Findings Digital empowerment enables operational, process and systemic transformation, critical for post-pandemic resilience. This occurs through enhanced specific legitimacy, availability and governance. Enterprises enhance operational vitality through improved alignment increase process orderliness via enhanced coordination, and accelerate ecosystem development via system coupling. This reflects an evolving trajectory characterized by expanding scope, deepening engagement and advancing value from digital empowerment. Practical implications Managers should focus on key SAO combinations for targeted transformation. For operational agility, achieve industry recognition through certification and alliances, deploy integrated technologies and implement adaptive governance; To optimize processes, encourage cooperation and eliminate data silos and reorganize rules with structured governance; For systemic change and ecosystem resilience, establish cross-industry innovation platforms, secure ecological niche recognition and creatively integrate diverse resources through governance. Originality/value A novel framework grounded in the SAO is developed for the analysis of mechanisms underlying digital transformation. Through a mixed-method approach, three distinct transformation mechanisms were validated. The study clarifies the varied pathways and underlying logics of digital empowerment for different changes.

Smart sports communities are emerging as a crucial component of China’s National Fitness Strategy, driven by digital empowerment and governance innovation. This study examines the historical evolution of urban community sports and investigates how technological innovations enhance governance, management, service efficiency, and user experience in the development of smart sports communities. Method: This research employs an empirical case study in the Yangtze River Delta region, encompassing 25 grassroots communities across cities such as Nanjing, Jiaxing, Shanghai, Hefei, and Wuhu. A historical analysis of policy documents, academic research, and media reports provides longitudinal insights into the transformation of urban community sports since the 1990s. In addition, qualitative data were collected through in-depth interviews with key stakeholders (government officials, citizens, volunteers, suppliers, and project managers) and field observations, assessing the role of digital technologies in fostering sports participation and enhancing governance effectiveness. The findings indicate that digital empowerment and governance innovation are reshaping smart sports communities in multiple ways: (1) shifting community sports services from a government-led model to a public-private partnership approach that responds to personalized demands; (2) optimizing grassroots governance through digital platforms and smart applications, enabling refined management of public services; (3) reinforcing national policy implementation and regulatory oversight via smart service technologies; and (4) fostering community engagement, social collaboration, and sustainable urban development by integrating digital tools into sports participation frameworks. The integration of technological innovation into community sports governance provides new opportunities for urban community development, enhancing both participation and management efficiency. However, this study also identifies challenges related to technology alienation. Future development of smart sports communities should move beyond infrastructure deployment to emphasize dynamic, multi-stakeholder collaboration, the construction of interactive online-to-offline sports networks, and the expansion of public social spaces. Simultaneously, governance strategies should address potential risks of technology alienation to ensure inclusive and balanced development in the digital era.

Digitally mediated communication in the public sector has changed how citizens and authorities communicate. Within this digital context, it has been identified that language problems may be an underlying cause of social exclusion for migrant groups (see Khorshed and Imran, 2015, p. 347), which seems to indicate that the lack of language proficiency in the host country’s language may give rise to new forms of digital divides in migratory contexts. Bearing this in mind, here we contend that, for migrants with language barriers, access to key digital services within the public sector can happen through translation provision, which may be used as a tool to digitally empower them. Thus, based on this logic, in this paper the digital empowerment (Mäkinen, 2006) of migrant communities is explored assessing to what extent the implementation of translation policy empowers migrants’ digital communication with the host country’ authorities within the public services. To this end, we will focus on a case study, the translation policy implemented in the case of the digital communication between the Spanish ministry for Migration and migrants in the case of two immigration procedures, which will be investigated from a descriptive stance using the methodological concept of domain. Our initial findings suggest that the translation policy implemented by this Spanish ministry results in diametrically opposed levels of migrants’ digital empowerment in our case study. Thus, arguably, even if translation policy could be used as a tool to digitally empower all migrants in our case study, it seems to be used as a tool to empower only some of them; the most powerful group of migrants

IntroductionThe urban–rural income gap and the non-equalization of basic public services constitute the core contradiction in China’s urban–rural development.MethodsThis study employs the fsQCA method based on the TOE framework to determine how technological, organizational, and environmental conditions collectively shape the urban–rural income gap in China’s Yangtze River Delta region.ResultsThe findings reveal three distinct configurations of high income disparity and three distinct configurations of non-high income disparity, emphasizing that no single factor is indispensable. Rather, combinations are crucial. High-disparity configurations manifest through three divergent pathways: dual squeezes from fiscal constraints and lagging digital infrastructure; structural disconnect between economic growth and digitalization; and cyclical lock-in between low-level economies and public service shortages. Non-high-disparity configurations emerge via three equivalent pathways: factor rebalancing driven by high economic output; cross-regional coordination through institutional optimization and digital empowerment; and compensatory mechanisms based on fiscal resilience and governance innovation.DiscussionThe study offers recommendations for basic public service allocation across cities in China’s three major regions, holding significant implications for the integrated urban–rural development of China.

Echinococcosis is a zoonotic parasitic disease that significantly endangers public health and hinders socioeconomic development. Sichuan Province is a mixed endemic area of cystic echinococcosis (CE) and alveolar echinococcosis (AE), and it has one of the most severe epidemics of echinococcosis in China. In 2012, the national epidemiological sampling survey of echinococcosis revealed that the prevalence rate of echinococcosis among the population in Sichuan Province was 1.08%, significantly higher than the national average (0.24%). In this study, the spatiotemporal distribution characteristics of newly diagnosed patients with echinococcosis in Sichuan Province from 2013 to 2024 were analyzed, providing a reference for identifying key areas of echinococcosis and developing targeted prevention and control strategies. Data on the number of individuals screened for echinococcosis and the number of newly diagnosed patients in endemic counties were obtained from the annual reports of the Sichuan Provincial Echinococcosis Control Program between 2013 and 2024. The detection rate of newly diagnosed echinococcosis patients was calculated for each year. County-level electronic maps of Sichuan Province were downloaded from the National Geographic Information Public Service Platform. The spatial distribution map of the detection rate of newly diagnosed patients with echinococcosis in Sichuan Province was created using ArcGIS software, and global and local spatial autocorrelation analyses were conducted. Spatiotemporal scanning analysis of the detection rate of newly diagnosed echinococcosis patients in Sichuan Province was conducted using SaTScan software. From 2013 to 2024, the total detection rate of newly diagnosed patients with echinococcosis in the endemic areas of Sichuan Province was 55.77/100,000, with the detection rates of CE and AE being 36.71/100,000 and 19.88/100,000, respectively. The total detection rate of newly diagnosed patients with echinococcosis, as well as that of CE and AE, demonstrated a decreasing trend year by year (χ2 = 1,054.785, 925.936, 196.018; P < 0.001). The detection rate of CE was higher than that of AE between 2013 and 2021; however, this trend was reversed between 2022 and 2024. In terms of spatial distribution, areas with higher detection rates were primarily concentrated in the northwestern part of Sichuan Province, whereas areas with lower detection rates were mainly distributed in the southeastern part of the province. The global spatial autocorrelation analysis results revealed that the total detection rate of newly diagnosed echinococcosis patients exhibited spatial clustering in 2013-2016, 2018, 2020, and 2024. The detection rate of newly diagnosed CE patients exhibited spatial clustering in 2013, 2014, and 2022. The detection rate of newly diagnosed patients with AE exhibited spatial clustering in 2013-2018, 2020, and 2023. Local spatial autocorrelation analyses revealed that the "high-high" clustering areas of the total detection rates, CE and AE detection rates were concentrated in the northwestern and northern parts of the endemic areas, while the "low-low" clustering areas were concentrated in the southeastern parts of the endemic areas. Spatiotemporal scanning analysis revealed that the most important clusters of newly total diagnosed echinococcosis and CE patients in Sichuan Province were mainly located in Shiqu, Seda, Baiyu, Ganzi, Dege, Xinlong, Luhuo, Aba, and Rangtang counties. The most important clusters of patients with AE were mainly in Shiqu, Seda, Baiyu, Ganzi, Dege, and Rangtang counties. The results demonstrated that the detection rate of newly diagnosed patients with echinococcosis in Sichuan Province decreased annually between 2013 and 2024, exhibiting significant spatial clustering. The western Sichuan Qinghai Tibet Plateau region is a "hot spot" for echinococcosis in the Sichuan Province population. It is recommended that relevant departments develop precise prevention and control strategies for the current areas of clustering.

The transformation of community governance in contemporary society has brought social organizations to the forefront of public affairs management. Under the framework of collaborative governance, the effective participation of these organizations is essential for achieving multi-actor coordination and improving community service delivery. However, their involvement is often constrained by institutional, resource, and capacity-related barriers. This paper analyzes the challenges faced by social organizations in participating in community public affairs from a collaborative governance perspective. It identifies five key problem areas: insufficient institutional support, fragmented resource allocation, limited organizational capability, weak trust and communication mechanisms, and coordination inefficiency among stakeholders. To address these issues, the paper proposes strategies including institutional synergy, resource integration, capacity enhancement, trust-building mechanisms, and digital empowerment. The study argues that fostering a sustainable collaborative system among government, social organizations, and community actors is vital for advancing participatory and effective community governance.

The integrated development of urban and rural areas is the main line and focus of the three rural issues'' work in the new era, which is of great significance for solving the problems of unbalanced and inadequate development in ethnic regions and promoting the comprehensive revitalization of rural areas. Based on the review of the evolution of urban-rural relations and related theories of urban-rural integrated development, this paper analyzes the prominent problems in ethnic regions, such as the imbalance of urban-rural development, rural hollowing, lagging infrastructure and public services, and ecological environment protection. Centering on the main line of digital empowerment for rural revitalization in ethnic regions, systematic countermeasures and suggestions are put forward from the aspects of constructing a digital rural development strategy'', promoting the system integration of `people-industry-land' '', taking classified measures to promote the revitalization of different types of rural areas'', promoting the free flow of urban and rural production factors'', and promoting rural space reconstruction''. At the same time, based on typical case practices, the replicable and extendable experience of digital rural development is summarized, the main challenges faced are analyzed, and policy suggestions are put forward from the aspects of top-level design, financial support, resource integration, pilot demonstration, and talent cultivation, so as to provide theoretical support and practical guidance for the integrated development of urban and rural areas and rural revitalization in ethnic regions.

From the perspective of urban-rural integration, this paper analyzes the current situation of public sports service system in rural areas of Sichuan Province. In order to break through the dilemma of the Rural Public Sports Service System in Sichuan Province, we must seize the opportunity of the integration of urban and rural areas, conform to the regional characteristics of Sichuan, plan the steps of the supporting reform between urban and rural areas as well as the farmers’ personal sports needs; and increase the farmers’ economic income, meanwhile, we should introduce and attract social enterprises and social forces to invest a lot in the human, material and financial resources of rural public sports. Promoting the development of rural public sports service in Sichuan Province by optimizing the allocation of resources.

IntroductionTo better improve the performance of public health governance of the government of ethnic areas in Sichuan Province, and to promote the high-quality development of health and health care in the area.MethodsQualitative comparative analysis of fuzzy sets and analysis of necessary conditions.ResultsBig data technology, ecological environment and public opinion environment have a significant impact on the public health governance performance of ethnic area governments in Sichuan Province when they play a major role respectively; the synergistic combination of the three conditions of technology, organization and environment is conducive to the improvement of the public health governance performance of ethnic area governments in Sichuan Province.SuggestionsDevelop digital economy; improve ecological environment; strengthen public opinion management; exert synergistic governance effect of technological, organizational and environmental conditions.

Promoting the integrated development of urban and rural areas is of great significance for narrowing the development gap between urban and rural areas, establishing a new type of urban-rural relationship, and achieving high-quality socialist modernization. This paper focuses on Sichuan Province and constructs an indicator system for the degree of urban-rural integration based on four dimensions: economic integration, social integration, population integration, and spatial integration. Then, using the entropy value method, it conducts a quantitative evaluation of the development status of urban-rural integration in the province from 2013 to 2022 to reveal the dynamic changes in its level of urban-rural integration. The results show that from 2013 to 2022, the overall level of urban-rural integration in Sichuan Province has shown an upward trend. Among the dimensions of urban-rural integration, social integration and spatial integration have achieved significant results, not only showing good current integration trends but also demonstrating rapid development speeds, presenting a positive development trend. In contrast, economic integration and population integration have performed less satisfactorily, with integration levels remaining at a relatively low level and slower development speeds, urgently requiring further optimization and improvement to achieve comprehensive and balanced urban-rural integration. The results indicate that the overall level of urban-rural integration in Sichuan Province is currently low, with disparities in regional development, unequal distribution of public services and infrastructure, and prominent issues of semi-urbanization in different areas.

Scientific and quantitative evaluation of the efficiency of public medical and health expenditure can help improve public health service capabilities. Based on the data envelopment method, the empirical analysis is carried out with the original figures of public medical and health expenditure in 21 cities and prefectures in Sichuan Province from 2014 to 2018. There are obvious differences in the overall efficiency and pure technical efficiency of public health expenditures in various cities and prefectures in Sichuan Province. Except for the five cities and prefectures of Chengdu, Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Zigong, Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture and Ya’an, the difference in scale efficiency is not very obvious. The overall difference is not much. In the past five years, all public medical and health expenditures in Chengdu have been valid for DEA. Other areas need to allocate input resources more scientifically to improve the pure technical efficiency of public medical and health expenditures and achieve the best output effect.