An exploratory study of proposed factors to adopt e-government services

Abstract—this paper discusses e-government, in particular the challenges that face adoption of e-government in Saudi Arabia. In this research we define e-government as a matrix of stakeholders: governments to governments, governments to business and governments to citizens, using information and communications technology to deliver and consume services. e-government services still face many challenges in their implementation and general adoption in many countries including Saudi Arabia. In addition, the background and the discussion identify the influential factors that affect the citizens’ intention to adopt e-government services in Saudi Arabia. Consequently, these factors have been defined and categorized followed by an exploratory study to examine the importance of these factors. Therefore, this research has identified factors that determine if the citizen will adopt e-government services and thereby aiding governments in accessing what is required to increase adoption

MGAUM: a new framework for the mobile government service adoption in Saudi Arabia

Many governments are now taking advantage of the latest developments in mobile technology to take the digital delivery of government information and services (e-government) to their citizens, companies and other government agencies a stage further. Accessing government information and services via a mobile device (m-government) also has unique advantages over e-government, not least enabling users to access government services at any time and from any location. Nevertheless, many Arab countries including Saudi Arabia, are experiencing a low adoption rate of these services, and face a number of issues related to adoption, implementation and use. In spite of this, a review of the literature shows that little research into identifying and understanding the factors that influence adoption of m-government services by citizens from citizens’ and providers’ perspectives in these countries has been conducted. Thus, this research aims to investigate and analyze factors that can impact Saudi citizens’ intention to adopt and use m-government services in Saudi Arabia; and to provide the knowledge needed to ensure a high level of success when implementing m-government services in this context. This research has developed a model called the Mobile Government Adoption and Utilization Model (MGAUM) based on a critical analysis of the literature that relates to acceptance of technology, along with insights from several models and theories commonly used to analyze acceptance and usage of technologies. The MGAUM focuses on understanding and analysing factors that could influence citizens’ adoption and use of Saudi m-government services from two different perspectives: that of Saudi citizens, and that of key officials responsible for implementing e-government and m-government services in Saudi ministries. A ‘quantitative dominant’ mixed method was used, with a quantitative primary method and additional qualitative method as complementary. A survey was used to collect quantitative data, and the final sample consisted of 1,286 valid responses. The survey revealed that Perceived Usefulness (PU), Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU), Perceived Mobility (PM), Social Influence (SI) and Perceived Compatibility (PCOM), Perceived Trust (PT), Culture (CULT), Citizen Service Quality (CSQ) and System Quality (SQ) were the most significant factors affecting citizens’ intention to adopt and use m-government services. Semi-structured interviews with key officials responsible for e-government and m-government in eight Saudi ministries were conducted to obtain qualitative data. From these managers’ perspectives, all the factors were considered significant apart from Culture. This study provides several recommendations based on the result of the quantitative and qualitative investigations into the field of m-government services for government agencies, m-services providers and practitioners

Towards an integrated model for citizen adoption of E-government services in developing countries: A Saudi Arabia case study

This paper considers the challenges that face the widespread adoption of E-government in developing countries, using Saudi Arabian our case study. E-government can be defined based on an existing set of requirements. In this paper we define E-government as a matrix of stakeholders; governments to governments, governments to business and governments to citizens using information and communications technology to deliver and consume services. E-government has been implemented for a considerable time in developed countries. However E-government services still faces many challenges their implemented and general adoption in developing countries. Therefore, this paper presents an integrated model for ascertaining the intention to adopt E-government services and thereby aid governments in accessing what is required to increase adoption

Innovative framework for e-government adoption in Saudi Arabia: a study from the business sector perspective

E-Government increases transparency and im- proves communication between the government and the users. Providing e-Government services to business sector is a fun- damental mission of governmental agencies in Saudi Arabia. However, the adoption of e-Government systems is less than satisfactory in many countries, particularly in developing coun- tries. This is a significant factor that can lead to e-Government failure and, therefore, to the waste of budget and effort. One pertinent, unanswered question is what are the key factors that influence the adoption and utilisation level of users from business sector. Unlike much research in the literature that has utilised common technology acceptance models and theories to analyse the adoption of e-Government, which may not be sufficient for such analysis, this study proposes a conceptual framework following a holistic approach to analyse key factors that influence the adoption and utilisation of e-Government in Saudi Arabia. The developed framework, E-Government Adoption and Utilisation Model (EGAUM), was developed based on critical evaluation of several common models and theories related to technology acceptance and use including Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), in conjunction with analysis of e-Government adoption literature. The study involved 48 participating business entities from two major cities in Saudi Arabia, Riyadh and Jeddah. The descriptive and statistical analyses are presented in this paper and the results indicated that all the proposed factors have degree of influence on the adoption and utilisation level. Perceived Benefits, Awareness, Previous Experience, and Regulations & Policies were found to be the significant factors that are most likely to influence the adoption and usage level of users from business sector. Keywords: E-Government; E-Services; Saudi Arabia; Technology Adoption; Influential Factors; Users’ Intention; Business Sector Perspectiv

The role of intermediaries in facilitating e-government diffusion in Saudi Arabia

Recent studies of e-government activity have highlighted adoption and diffusion issues as important subjects for rating e-government success. However in developing countries inadequate resources and limited citizens’ capabilities regarding new e-government have resulted in low diffusion and adoption of e-government services. This paper examines the role of intermediaries, which can be played by a third party; in bridging the gap between e-government implementation and social reality, and looks at the roles a third party can add within the e-government services mechanism. This paper uses a case study approach in order to reflect e-government progress within the context of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) as one developing country. The result of this paper shows that intermediaries play an important role in the diffusion of e-services in relation to improving the availability, accessibility and enhancing privacy and security

Exploring determinants of M-Government services: a study from the citizens’ perspective in Saudi Arabia

The government of Saudi Arabia has adopted MGovernment for the effective delivery of services. One advantage that it offers is unique opportunities for real-time and personalized access to government information and services. However, a low adoption rate of m-Government services by citizens is a common problem in Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, despite the best efforts of the Saudi government. Therefore, this paper explores the determinants of citizens’ intention to adopt and use m-Government services, in order to increase the adoption rate. This study was based on the Mobile Government Adoption and Utilization Model (MGAUM) that was developed for the purpose. Data was collected, and the final sample consisted of 1,286 valid responses. The descriptive analysis presented in this paper indicates that all the proposed factors in our MGAUM model were statistically significant in influencing citizens’ intention to adopt and use m-Government services

Examining the influence of intermediaries in facilitating e-government adoption: an empirical investigation

YesThe adoption and diffusion of electronic government is often impeded by many social and individual factors relating to citizens. In this respect, intermediaries have emerged as a new model for delivering e-government services to overcome such obstacles. This study aims to examine the role of intermediaries in facilitating e-government adoption and diffusion using a survey based empirical study of 502 participants in Madinah City in Saudi Arabia. An extended UTAUT model is used as the theoretical basis utlising trust in the Internet and Intermediaries. The results of this study show that there are significant relationships among the factors that influence intention to use e-government, namely, performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and trust of intermediary. In addition, the findings show that there is a significant relationship between facilitating conditions and usage behaviour proving that intermediaries can influence adoption of e-government services

MGAUM—towards a mobile government adoption and utilization model: the case of Saudi Arabia

This paper presents a proposal for a mobile government adoption and utilization model (MGAUM), which is a framework designed to increase the adoption rate of m-government services in Saudi Arabia. Recent advances in mobile technologies such are Mobile compatibilities, The development of wireless communication, mobile applications and devices are enabling governments to deliver services in new ways to citizens more efficiently and economically. In the last decade, many governments around the globe are utilizing these advances effectively to develop their next generation of e-government services. However, a low adoption rate of m-government services by citizens is a common problem in Arabian countries, including Saudi Arabia. Yet, to our knowledge, very little research has been conducted focused on understanding the factors that influence citizen adoption of these m-government services in this part of the world. A set of social, cultural and technological factors have been identified in the literature, which has led to the formulation of associated research questions and hypotheses. These hypotheses will be tested on Saudi citizens using questionnaires and interview methods based around the technology acceptance model. A key objective of the MGAUM framework is to investigate and understand Saudi citizens perception towards adoption and utilization of m-government services