Abstract: The traditional management of major water conservancy projects and their owners￠ capabilities have become inadequate to fully address new challenges, as digital technology application expands in width and depth in construction and management. This brings about an urgent need for project owners to develop high-level capability, namely digital competence. In this work, we compile a digital competence dictionary based on a systematic review and synthesis of literature in the classical competence theory framework, and refine the key factors to characterize the digital competence of a project owner through behavioral event interviews. Applying the dynamic capability theory, we establish a digital competence model that integrates three dimensions－sensing capability, integrating capability, and reconfiguring capability. This model clarifies the distinguishing competence elements of the project owners in the digital transformation of engineering projects, helping to promote the capacity building and digital governance of project owners in major water conservancy projects.

Key words: major water conservancy project, project owner, digital competency, dynamic capability theory