How digital technology can effectively drive ecological collaborative governance in trans-administrative river basins is a core prerequisite for achieving intelligent ecological governance of river basins. Based on 402 micro survey responses collected from water conservancy, environmental protection and other relevant departments in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River Basin, this study identifies the characteristics of digital technology from three dimensions: tool, power and capacity. By integrating factor analysis and the mediating effect model, it empirically examines the impact of digital technology on inter-provincial ecological collaboration in river basins and its underlying mechanism. The results show that: (1) Digital technology exerts a significantly positive driving effect on inter-provincial ecological collaboration in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River Basin, and this conclusion remains robust after conducting robustness tests including the re-measurement of digital technology and the exclusion of interference from smart water conservancy pilot projects. (2) Mechanism analysis reveals that central government support and public participation play partial mediating roles in the relationship between digital technology and inter-provincial ecological collaboration, and both variables exert a masking mediating effect on the sustainability of inter-provincial ecological collaboration. These findings provide micro-evidence-based policy implications for optimizing the digital collaborative governance system of river basins.

Based on 402 micro-survey data from water conservancy, environmental protection and other departments in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River Basin, the characteristics of digital technology are identified from three dimensions: tools, power and capacity. Combined with factor analysis and mediating effect model, the impact and mechanism of digital technology on inter-provincial ecological coordination in the basin are empirically tested. Research shows that: (1) Digital technology has a significant positive driving effect on inter-provincial ecological coordination in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. After robustness tests such as re-measurement by digital technology and elimination of interference from smart water conservancy pilot projects, the conclusion still holds. (2) The mechanism path shows that central government support and public participation play a partial mediating role in the impact of digital technology on inter-provincial ecological coordination, and both have a masking mediating effect on the sustainability of inter-provincial ecological coordination-digital technology indirectly enhances the level of inter-provincial ecological coordination by strengthening central policy and financial support and broadening public participation channels. (3) In empirical tests, the dependent variable mostly relies on subjective scores, lacking cross-validation of objective indicators, and the logical chain of mechanism transmission is not clear enough. Based on this, targeted suggestions such as improving the policy system for digital collaboration in river basins and building a digital and intelligent public participation platform are put forward, providing practical references for the ecological collaborative governance of the Yangtze River Basin.