Examining the socio-economic determinants of adoption of the 'Government Gateway' initiative in the UK

This paper empirically examines the impact of socio-economic determinants upon the adoption of a recent UK e-government initiative, the 'Government Gateway'. The data on five socio-economic characteristics was collected employing a postal survey. The findings of this research suggest that the three variables of age, gender and occupation significantly differentiated the adopters from the non-adopters of the Government Gateway, whilst education and income were found to be non-significant. The implications of the findings are discussed in the context of promoting the adoption of emerging Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and reducing the digital divide against less privileged parts of the population

Factors Affecting Household Broadband Adoption in Australia

Broadband networking technology has grown in prominence, driven by increasing interest from researchers, organisations, the popular media and the public alike. Using a data set of more than 20,000 households, this study examines residential broadband adoption and growth over time. The study uses classification tree analysis, which allows for simple interpretive descriptions of the relationship between explanatory variables and adoption propensity without the need for strong distributional assumptions, a priori variable transformation or interaction specification. The study finds that broadband adopters typically live in a metropolitan centre and were also cable TV subscribers. Online banking, research and share trading were also significant drivers for uptake

Factors affecting e-government adoption in the state of Qatar

Electronic government (e-government) initiatives are in their early stages in many developing countries and faced with various issues pertaining to their implementation, adoption and diffusion. Although e-government has increased transparency and improved communication and access to information for citizens, digital diffusion of information is often achieved at high cost to government agencies. Conversely, citizens’ adoption of e-government services has been less than satisfactory in most countries. While studies by researchers continue to outline the most salient adoption constructs, as well as various frameworks and models for understanding adoption, research by independent consultancy/research organisations has produced a host of statistics and league tables of good and bad practices of service delivery. Like many other developing countries, the e-government initiative in the state of Qatar has faced a number of challenges since its inception in 2000. This study utilises the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) to explore the adoption of e-government services in the state of Qatar. 1179 citizens were surveyed to collect primary data. A regression analysis was conducted to examine the influence of the factors adapted from the UTAUT on e-government adoption. Reliability test reported values of the various constructs vary between (0.74) and (0.91). The findings reveal that effort expectancy and social influences determine citizens’ behavioural intention towards e-government. Additionally, facilitating conditions and behavioural intention were found to determine citizens’ use of e-government services in Qatar. Implications for practice and research are discussed

REVISTING THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN BROADBAND DIFFUSION AND REGIONAL SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT: A PRIMER

As they create generative conditions for socioeconomic development ICTs and broadband technology, can be understood as an innovation kernel for system evolution. Whereas for a regional system (a local area), technological progress may at certain times be regarded as exogenous, information endowments and expected level of functionalities are not. An innovation kernel, in fact, cannot exist outside the organization of the regional/local system which it belongs to. To grow and deploy its potentials, a fertile environment capable to adapt pro-actively to the changes it produces is needed. In this paper the conceptual underpinnings of an innovation kernel are overviewed and their relationships with those conventionally addressed in regional science studies briefly discussed. Bbuilding upon the IRES research undertaken as a part of the Piedmont ICT Observatory activities, an effort is made to pinpoint the determinants and processes of regional development on which an innovation kernel would encroach. A conceptual framework is outlined which makes it possible to elicit some main relationships between ICTs, broadband and developmental processes in a regional system.

The impact of local ICT initiatives on social capital and quality of life

This paper reviews the evidence for the effects of local ICT initiatives (‘community networks’) on neighbourhood social capital and quality of life and has been developed from the public SOCQUIT D11 report (Anderson et al, 2006)

The Digital Divide: Current and Future Research Directions

The digital divide refers to the separation between those who have access to digital information and communications technology (ICT) and those who do not. Many believe that universal access to ICT would bring about a global community of interaction, commerce, and learning resulting in higher standards of living and improved social welfare. However, the digital divide threatens this outcome, leading many public policy makers to debate the best way to bridge the divide. Much of the research on the digital divide focuses on first order effects regarding who has access to the technology, but some work addresses the second order effects of inequality in the ability to use the technology among those who do have access. In this paper, we examine both first and second order effects of the digital divide at three levels of analysis ? the individual level, the organizational level, and the global level. At each level, we survey the existing research noting the theoretical perspective taken in the work, the research methodology employed, and the key results that were obtained. We then suggest a series of research questions at each level of analysis to guide researchers seeking to further examine the digital divide and how it impacts citizens, managers, and economies

Investigating consumer adoption, usage and impact of broadband: UK households

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Despite a large investment, the majority of countries especially the UK demonstrate a slow adoption of broadband. In order to enhance the adoption and use of broadband this research examines the factors influencing the decisions of household consumers. This research aims to address the two main areas of concern: first, to investigate consumer-level factors affecting the adoption of broadband in UK households; and second, to understand the usage of broadband and its impact upon household consumers in the UK. This research adopted a quantitative approach that was executed in the following steps. First, it developed a conceptual model by selecting and justifying relevant constructs from appropriate theories and models related to technology adoption, usage and impact. Second, it operationalised the constructs by developing and validating the research instrument by employing the content validity, reliability and construct validity approach. Finally, it empirically validated and refined the conceptual model by employing a survey research approach. The findings suggested that all the constructs included in the conceptual model, except knowledge, significantly influence the consumers when adopting broadband in a UK household. The significant constructs include relative advantage, utilitarian outcomes, hedonic outcomes, primary influence, facilitating conditions resources and self-efficacy. The rate and variety of Internet usage is significantly higher for broadband consumers than narrowband ones. It was also found that significantly more numbers of broadband consumers perceived changes in time allocation patterns on various daily life activities than narrowband ones. This research contributes towards theory, practice and policy. The contribution of this research towards theory is that it integrates and determines the appropriate information systems (IS) literature in order to enhance knowledge of technology adoption from the consumers' perspectives. An added contribution to theory is the development and validation of a research instrument that future studies can utilise to examine broadband and other similar technologies in household context. Considering the slow adoption of broadband, this research also provides implications for policy makers and the providers of broadband in order to encourage and promote homogenous adoption and usage

Broadband adoption in Latin American countries: does geographic proximity matter?

Este trabajo analiza si la proximidad geográfica entre países puede ser un factor significativo que explique la adopción de banda ancha, tanto fija como móvil, en América Latina. Para responder a la cuestión si los efectos de vecindad podrían impactar sobre la penetración de banda ancha en un país, se estimó un modelo de panel de datos Durbin espacial para el periodo 2011 a 2015, aplicado a 18 países latinoamericanos. En particular, sus resultados muestran efectos espaciales positivos para banda ancha fija (lo mismo se confirmó para Europa en anteriores estudios) pero efectos espaciales negativos en la adopción de banda ancha móvil.This paper analyzes whether geographic proximity among countries can be a significant factor in explaining fixed and mobile broadband adoption in Latin America. To address the research question if neighbor effects could impact on the broadband penetration of a country, we estimate a Spatial Durbin panel data model over the period 2011-2015, for 18 Latin American countries. Results obtained suggest a significant spatial effect of the broadband penetration. In particular, results show positive spatial effects for fixed broadband (confirming previous studies in Europe) but negative spatial effects for mobile broadband adoption.Fil: Alderete, Maria Veronica. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Investigaciones Económicas y Sociales del Sur. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Economía. Instituto de Investigaciones Económicas y Sociales del Sur; Argentin

Factors Affecting Malaysian Accountants\u27 Broadband Adoption and Use Behavior

The aim of this study was to examine the factors affecting the adoption of broadband Internet in a developing country context by focusing upon Malaysia. The data relating to these factors was collected using a survey approach. The findings of this paper suggest that constructs such as relative advantage, utilitarian outcomes, service quality and primary influence are important factors affecting Malaysian accountants’ broadband adoption and Internet use behaviour. The paper proceeds to outline the research limitations and implications