Social structures embed technologies, which people use in the implementation
of national single window digital platforms. We argue that stakeholder interests
determine digital transformation – with people being the key to understanding how
digital platforms change or do not change the environments into which they are
introduced. In our multicase studies based in the port of Tema, Ghana, stakeholders
have divergent opinions about technology, which causes conflicts. Our empirical
findings reflect the interpretive flexibility that moderates the traditional dichotomy
between technological determinism and social constructivism. By employing the
theory of sociotechnical systems, we identify the frictions and interlinkages of
non‑technological factors.