<span lang="IN">Digital innovation holds a crucial position in enhancing the quality of the education ecosystem in Indonesia. This study assess</span><span lang="EN-US">es</span><span lang="IN"> the impact of a specific digital innovation in education—the online </span><span lang="EN-US">school admission process </span><span lang="IN">(PPDB)—on the </span><span lang="EN-US">participation of students from poor families at the high school level in the Provinces of </span><span lang="IN">DKI Jakarta and West Java between 2015 and 2019. </span><span lang="EN-US">Using</span><span lang="IN"> the Difference-in-Difference method, the research compares regencies/cities that </span><span lang="EN-US">adopt</span><span lang="IN"> online PPDB with </span><span lang="EN-US">the </span><span lang="IN">control variables </span><span lang="EN-US">of the regencies/cities </span><span lang="IN">that do not</span><span lang="EN-US"> adopt</span><span lang="IN">. The findings reveal that the implementation of </span><span lang="EN-US">online </span><span lang="IN">PPDB at the high school level led to a 3.28% increase </span><span lang="EN-US">in the </span><span lang="IN">school participation</span><span lang="EN-US"> of poor students</span><span lang="IN"> compared to regencies/cities</span><span lang="EN-US">that do not implement the </span><span lang="IN">online PPDB. Given the significant role of digital innovation in elevating Indonesia's education ecosystem, </span><span lang="EN-US">digital innovation is expected to increase, </span><span lang="IN">particularly those facilitating accessible education for the less privileged. However, there are several obstacles still experienced by </span><span lang="EN-US">parents or students</span><span lang="IN"> regarding the implementation of online </span><span lang="EN-US">PPDB for </span><span lang="IN">high school admissions</span><span lang="EN-US">. </span><span lang="IN">Future research is encouraged to broaden the sample size, encompassing more provinces, to yield more comprehensive and robust results.</span>