AbstractLike other developing countries, the Indonesian government is pursuing digital transformation to achieve good governance at the central and micro levels. One of the strategies for achieving digital government transformation at the micro level is implementing village information systems (VIS), information systems that village officials manage. Unfortunately, not all villages in Indonesia are thriving in adopting VIS. Therefore, this study aims to answer an overarching puzzle: Why did some village governments successfully adopt VIS while others failed? Using a case‐study approach to VIS adoption in Gunungkidul Regency, Indonesia, this study fills the gap in the literature from the technological‐organizational–environmental perspective that affects e‐government adoption at the village government level. We found four main factors that influence the success or failure of village information systems adoption: (1) VIS interoperability (technology context), (2) the workload of village officers (organizational context), (3) the role of civil society, and (4) the role of a vendor (environmental context). This research enriches the literature by identifying these four factors within the TOE framework, still rarely present in e‐government adoption studies, especially in the context of village governments in developing countries. This research has practical implications for the successful adoption of VIS as a village government effort to gain data sovereignty.