I’ve been researching why many digital transformation (“DX”) and smart city initiatives in rural Japan struggle to move beyond proof-of-concept stages.The problem often seems less technological than institutional:annual budgeting systems make long-term maintenance difficult municipalities depend heavily on outside vendors aging and shrinking populations reduce operational capacity pilot funding exists, but ongoing ownership is unclearIn many cases, the pilot itself becomes the goal rather than long-term operational adoption.I summarized several examples and structural patterns here: https://youtu.be/YB1e0K4w0sYI’d be interested to hear whether similar “pilot trap” dynamics exist in other countries’ local governments.