Supplement S1 — Actor-Card Coding Dataset

This dataset constitutes Supplement S1 to the manuscript “Who Shapes Digital Transformation in Local Government? Attributed Capacity and Formal Responsibility”. The dataset documents how municipal practitioners attributed capacity to shape digital transformation and how these attributions corresponded with actors’ formal responsibilities. The empirical material was generated through six structured focus groups conducted in South Westphalia, Germany, between March and April 2025. The groups involved 30 practitioners from 25 municipalities, including digitalisation officers, departmental heads, IT managers, and senior administrative leaders. The complete focus-group sessions lasted approximately 120 minutes. This dataset covers the actor-mapping component, which lasted between 45 and 80 minutes depending on the group. Participants collectively identified actors as drivers, enablers, or obstructors and allocated dots to indicate their perceived relevance. The workbook contains 144 actor cards and 291 allocated dots. It includes four worksheets: README: dataset description, methodology, structure, and data-protection information; Legend: codebook and coding rules; Coding: card-level actor labels, English translations, placements, dot weights, analytical codes, and coding-decision notes; Analysis: dot-weighted summaries by actor level, personalisation, formal responsibility, and placement zone. The analytical dimensions are Zone, Level, Personalized, and Formal Responsibility. The Actor group variable provides an auxiliary thematic classification and is not treated as an analytical dimension. Participant names, speaker identifiers, transcript timestamps, municipality-level identifiers, recordings, complete transcripts, and the internal traceability matrix are not included. Analytical notes have been paraphrased for public dissemination.