Perspectives of citizens towards e-government in Thailand and Indonesia: A multigroup analysis

Thailand and Indonesia are two developing countries still in the early stages of e-government implementation. An understanding of their citizens’ perspectives can help the governments of these countries better plan their services and also provide useful information to governments of other developing countries. The current study uses a new survey instrument to assess the importance of e-government services and website success factors from the perspective of citizens. Using multigroup analysis to validate the instrument, it identifies that an important difference between the perceptions of citizens of the two countries is that in Thailand, the importance of financial transaction services is negatively related to the importance of citizen identification with the e-government site whereas in Indonesia this relationship is insignificant. Only two expected relationships were found to be equivalent across both datasets, i.e., the importance of financial transactions services is positively related to the importance of website efficiency and the importance of local information services is positively related to the importance of citizen identification with the site. The multigroup analysis showed that citizens in both countries interpreted the survey instrument similarly but had very different expectations for their e-government services.

How does e-government use affect citizens’ trust in government? Empirical evidence from China

Although much literature has discussed the potential of e-government for improving citizens’ trust in government, the question of how e-government use affects citizens’ trust in government remains underexplored. To investigate the driving mechanism of the effects of different types of e-government use on trust in government, this research develops a conceptual framework based on the institutional-based trust theory, the process-based trust theory, and the expectancy-disconfirmation model. Based on data collected from 1668 citizen users living in five cities in China, the study verifies the proposed mediated moderation model and then tests the robustness of the results using process analysis. The results reveal that citizens’ use of e-government revitalizes their trust in government indirectly, via influence on citizens’ evaluation of government integrity, performance, and responsiveness from the experience of using e-government, while the mediating effects of citizens’ evaluation of government on relationship between e-government use and public trust are diminished by citizens’ expectations for their government. The analysis also offers strong support for the conclusion that the effects of different types of e-government use on public trust are differentially distributed among multiple levels of governments in China.     

Business Processes Verification for e-Government Service Delivery

Domain experts knowledge represents a major source of information in the design and the development of user-centric and distributed service-based applications, such as those of e-government. Issues related both to the communication among domain and IT experts, and to the implementation of domain dependent requirements in service-based applications, have to be carefully considered to support both Public Administrations efficiency and citizen satisfaction. In this article, we provide as user-friendly approach toward business process assessment via formal verification. Starting from a semi-formal notation, well understood and largely used by domain experts, we provide a mapping to a formal specification in the form of a process algebra. This transformation makes possible formal and automatic verification of desired quality requirements. The approach has been already applied, with encouraging results, in the e-government domain to verify the quality of business processes related to the delivery of e-government digital services to citizens. Moreover, the approach is supported by a plug-in for the Eclipse platform permitting to have an integrated environment in which to design the process model and to assess its quality.     

Accessibility and interoperability in e-government systems: outlining an inclusive development process

The multidisciplinary nature of e-government demands a research agenda that includes issues related to social inclusion, universal accessibility, interoperability, privacy, security, and citizen participation, to name a few. Understanding the underlying cultural context, the involvement of citizens in the proposal and evaluation of services, and the promotion of quality in use are aspects that need special consideration in the development of systems to support government. This paper provides an outline for a process model for promoting the identification and specification of accessible e-government services with the participation of the interested parties. A socially shared perspective is adopted toward the comprehension of the involved problems and the elaboration of potential solutions. The proposed model is a result of practice in the domain, using organizational semiotics artifacts to stimulate participation and discussion.     

A meta-design approach to the development of e-government services

This paper describes a meta-design approach to the development of online services for citizens of a government agency. The goal is to transfer the development of government-to-citizen services from professional software developers to administrative employees, without forcing employees to acquire any programming skills. The approach encompasses two main phases. The first phase analyzes the different perspectives of the stakeholders involved in service creation and usage – employees, citizens, software developers and human–computer interaction specialists – in order to derive a meta-model of e-government services. The latter applies the meta-model to design and develop an end-user development environment that properly supports employees in creating an instance of the service meta-model, which is then automatically interpreted to generate the service pages for citizens. A pilot application of the proposed approach is illustrated with reference to a specific class of e-government services offered by the Brescia Municipality, even though the approach is general enough to be applied to different kinds of e-government services and application domains. The results of the evaluation with a group of municipality employees provide initial feedback from the government field and show how to proceed along this research direction.     

The digital divide and t-government in the United States: using the technology acceptance model to understand usage

This paper applies the technology acceptance model to explore the digital divide and transformational government (t-government) in the United States. Successful t-government is predicated on citizen adoption and usage of e-government services. The contribution of this research is to enhance our understanding of the factors associated with the usage of e-government services among members of a community on the unfortunate side of the divide. A questionnaire was administered to members, of a techno-disadvantaged public housing community and neighboring households, who partook in training or used the community computer lab. The results indicate that perceived access barriers and perceived ease of use (PEOU) are significantly associated with usage, while perceived usefulness (PU) is not. Among the demographic characteristics, educational level, employment status, and household income all have a significant impact on access barriers and employment is significantly associated with PEOU. Finally, PEOU is significantly related to PU. Overall, the results emphasize that t-government cannot cross the digital divide without accompanying employment programs and programs that enhance citizens’ ease in using such services.     

Service quality,perceived value,and citizens’ continuous-use intention regarding e-government: Empirical evidence from China

Citizens’ low continuous-use intention has become a great challenge for the development of e-government in China. This study has developed a chain model of e-government service quality, perceived value, and citizens’ continuous-use intention to explain the relationship between government website service quality and perceived value, as well as how that relationship influences citizens’ reuse intention. Using data collected from a survey of 1,650 citizen users living in one direct-controlled municipality and four high-population cities in China, this study verifies the components of e-government service quality through partial least squares (PLS) analysis and then tests the proposed concept model using structural equation modeling. The results reveal that the concept of e-government service quality has eight contributing dimensions: system quality, reliability, security, accessibility, information quality, service capability, interactivity, and responsiveness. Perceived service value is a powerful mediator between service quality and citizens’ continuous-use intention. The intention to use is a consequence of service quality, service value, and satisfaction.     

Channel choice and the digital divide in e-government: the case of Egypt

This paper examines channel choice and the digital divide in Egyptian electronic government or e-government. Citizens have access to a variety of service delivery channels when they initiate contact with their government, ranging from e-government to more traditional channels such as the phone and in-person visits to a government office. This paper examines the extent of use of both contact channels for citizens and the impact of the digital divide on channel use. A public opinion survey of Egyptian citizens was analyzed, and the results showed that there was a digital divide in the use of e-government by citizens. The digital divide also extended to other contact channels such as the phone and when citizens used multiple contact channels for public service delivery. The results of this study imply that for the development of e-government, especially in the context of a developing country such as Egypt, policy-makers need to understand that e-government is one of many channels that citizens can use when they initiate contact with their government. The results of this study should encourage policy-makers to recognize the importance of public service delivery in a multichannel environment. Shirin Madon is the accepting Associate Editor for this article. View all notes     

Adoption of e-Government Services in Pakistan: A Comparative Study Between Online and Offline Users

An empirical study was conducted to investigate the critical factors influencing the citizens’ intention to adopt e-government services at different levels of service maturity, i.e., information and transaction levels. An integrated conceptual model is proposed and validated. Data were collected using the quota sampling method from two user groups, i.e., online and offline. The empirical evidence, discussion, and recommendations provide guidelines to the Pakistani government to follow in order to increase citizens’ potential to utilize e-government services.     

Vendor satisfaction of E-government procurement systems in developing countries: an empirical research in Indonesia

ABSTRACT

Adoption of e-government services persists as a prime concern among scholars and practitioners. Although much progress has been attained in comprehending how e-government services have been adopted by citizens, our understanding of vendors’ willingness to engage in Government-to-Business transactions (e.g. e-procurement) is much more limited by comparison, especially from the perspectives of service convenience and performance failure. For this reason, there have been increasing calls for further investigations into the factors affecting vendors’ adoption of e-government services and especially those operating in developing countries. Drawing on the compatibility principle, we advance a theoretical model that posits performance failure of e-government systems as object-based beliefs affecting vendors’ behavioral-based belief of service convenience. Upon analyzing survey data gathered from 227 vendors based in Indonesia on their experiences with e-government procurement systems, we discover that vendors’ evaluations of service convenience are negatively influenced by the presence of information, function, and system failures and that the effects of these failures vary across different dimensions of service convenience. In turn, service convenience and performance failure exert opposite impact on vendors’ satisfaction with e-government systems.     

The utilization of e‐government services: citizen trust,innovation and acceptance factors*

Abstract. Electronic government, or e‐government, increases the convenience and accessibility of government services and information to citizens. Despite the benefits of e‐government – increased government accountability to citizens, greater public access to information and a more efficient, cost‐effective government – the success and acceptance of e‐government initiatives, such as online voting and licence renewal, are contingent upon citizens’ willingness to adopt this innovation. In order to develop ‘citizen‐centred’ e‐government services that provide participants with accessible, relevant information and quality services that are more expedient than traditional ‘brick and mortar’ transactions, government agencies must first understand the factors that influence citizen adoption of this innovation. This study integrates constructs from the Technology Acceptance Model, Diffusions of Innovation theory and web trust models to form a parsimonious yet comprehensive model of factors that influence citizen adoption of e‐government initiatives. The study was conducted by surveying a broad diversity of citizens at a community event. The findings indicate that perceived ease of use, compatibility and trustworthiness are significant predictors of citizens’ intention to use an e‐government service. Implications of this study for research and practice are presented.     

Adoption of e-government services in Turkey

This research aims to investigate underlying factors that play role in citizens' decision to use e-government services in Turkey. UTAUT model which was enriched by introducing Trust of internet and Trust of government factors is used in the study. The model is evaluated through a survey conducted with Turkish citizens who are from different regions of the country. A total of 529 answers collected through purposive sampling and the responses were evaluated with the SEM (Structural Equation Modeling) technique. According to the results, Performance expectancy, Social influence, Facilitating conditions and Trust of Internet were found to have a positive effect on behavioral intention to use e-government services. Additionally, both Trust factors were found to have a positive influence on Performance expectancy of e-government services, a relation which, to our best knowledge, hasn't been tested before in e-government context. Effect of Effort expectancy and Trust of government were found insignificant on behavioral intention. We believe that the findings of this study will guide professionals and policy makers in improving and popularizing e-government services by revealing the citizen's priorities regarding e-government services in Turkey.     

Are U.K. Citizens Satisfied With E-Government Services? Identifying and Testing Antecedents of Satisfaction

Citizens’ satisfaction is acknowledged as one of the most significant influences for e-government adoption and diffusion. This study examines the impact of information quality, system quality, trust, and cost on user satisfaction of e-government services. Using a survey, this study collected 1518 valid responses from e-government service adopters across the United Kingdom. Our empirical outcomes show the five factors identified in this study have a significant impact on U.K. citizens’ satisfaction with e-government services.     

Do-it-yourself services and work-like chores: on civic duties and digital public services

Doing civic duties is neither paid work nor leisure: it is a private, work-like activity. Digital services enrol customers in doing work tasks. Also digital public services delegate work to citizens, but there are important differences between automation for citizens doing their civic duties and services that customers choose to use. In this paper, we discuss how digitally automated services remove some tasks but also introduce new work tasks for citizens and how citizens handle these. We present a study of citizens’ calls to a public service provider (the tax authorities) requesting help carrying out their civic duties. The analysis of citizens’ problems with doing their taxes is a basis for suggesting an alternative design of digital tax services that can increase citizens’ mastery and autonomy when doing their taxes. We suggest an approach for designing coherent tasks for the citizen, and how doing one’s civic duties can be seen as work—and as a part of life. We argue that designing for automated public services need to apply a citizen-centric perspective in order to maintain a basis for citizens to participate in democratic processes in society.     

Investigating the impact of citizens’ trust toward the successful adoption of e-government: A multigroup analysis of gender,age, and internet experience

This research particularly aims to investigate how the individual differences in gender, age, and internet experience influence citizens’ trust in e-government’s adoption. The findings of the study revealed that females are confident and have a more positive evaluation of online services compared to males. Interestingly, this study found that old people display greater trust in e-government as compared to the levels of trust reported by younger people. The results also show that internet experience influences citizens’ trust positively.     

Trust and risk in e-government adoption

Citizen confidence in government and technology is imperative to the wide-spread adoption of e-government. This study analyzes the impact of trust and risk perceptions on one’s willingness to use e-government services. We propose a model of e-government trust composed of disposition to trust, trust of the Internet (TOI), trust of the government (TOG) and perceived risk. Results from a citizen survey indicate that disposition to trust positively affects TOI and TOG, which in turn affect intentions to use an e-government service. TOG also affects negatively perceived risk, which affects use intentions as well. Implications for practice and research are discussed.     

Spatial Data Infrastructures for environmental e-government services: The case of water abstractions authorisations

Environment-related authorisations are a relevant issue for environmental management. They require a considerable effort by the authorities, and this might result in substantial delays for the citizens. Implementing those authorisation processes by means of e-government services would improve efficiency and, consequently, citizen satisfaction. Environment-related authorisations usually require a variety of geospatial information, and have to deal with administrative areas which do not match physical and ecological ones. They also have to integrate heterogeneous information in different formats, data models and languages, and provided by distinct organisations, even from different countries. This paper discusses how Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDIs) can deal with these problems in the environmental domain, while improving the level of service provision in terms of e-government applications. This is even more relevant within the European Union where there is a legal mandate to establish an SDI to support environmental policies and activities with an impact on the environment. As a proof-of-concept, an application to request and manage water abstraction authorisations, based on an SDI, is demonstrated. This application is part of SDIGER, a cross-border inter-administration SDI to support the water framework directive information access for the Adour–Garonne and Ebro River basins, that was a pilot project for the EU INSPIRE Directive. The introduction of this transactional e-government service modifies the administrative process of granting authorisations: it allows to re-use the effort in data capture made by the applicants in their requests, facilitates the submission of more feasible applications and reduces the workload of the office staff.     

Government website service quality: a study of the Irish revenue online service

Online taxation systems have been among the most successful of e-government applications both in terms of citizen take-up and savings to the taxpayer. Understanding the factors that lead to high take-up is of potential interest to other public sector online service providers. This paper examines the quality of the online service provided by the Irish Revenue Commissioners’ tax filing and collection system, Revenue Online Service (ROS). A modified version of the recently operationalized E-S-QUAL instrument is used to examine online service quality from the point of view of the citizens and tax practitioners who use this eGovernment system. The findings show that efficiency and ease of completion are the dimensions of website service quality that most influence ROS users’ perceptions of value and convenience as well as their intentions to use and recommend the website to their peers. The practical implications of these findings include the fact that providers of public sector e-services should concentrate on communicating the functionality of their e-services. In addition, they should focus on reducing citizen concerns regarding misuse or mismanagement of personal data.     

An international look at virtual citizenship

Comprehensive strategies in India and Europe guide the movement of government services online. There is no question that the quantity and quality of e-government programs are rapidly increasing. They promise a means to deliver better service at a lowered cost. But no matter how brilliant the idea, it is worthless unless citizens adopt it as an alternative method of transacting with the government. E-government has moved beyond the hype phase. Valuable services are available and citizens are using them. Citizenship might soon be more a matter of your IP (Internet Protocol) address, rather than your physical address.