In an attempt to establish more efficient and transparent governmental services, manual systems of government across the globe are being transferred to e-government systems, including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). However, this transformation, and especially ensuring user acceptance of e-government, poses a number of challenges. Against this backdrop, the current work examines issues that are related to information trust, professional ethics, and the risks incurred in embracing an e-government. This was carried out based on three Saudi Arabian organisations namely the Ministry of Interior; the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology; and King Abdul-Aziz City for Science and Technology. Qualitative methods was adopted for both data collection and analysis based on semi-structured interviews and questionnaires. The data were analysed using thematic analysis to establish perceptions and behavioural patterns of e-government systems among both government officials and general users. A technological gap was identified as the core impediment to widespread implementation and user acceptance of e-government in KSA. It was established that governmental success in ensuring the system is resilient against data loss and hacking, and habitual adoption of checking mechanisms, can lead towards improved implementation of e-government, along with its utilisation throughout KSA. This research contributes a research model, informed by institutional theory, of factors affecting the adoption of e-government from both employees and citizens’ perspectives (as evident within KSA). It responds to calls from other Information Systems researchers to study e-government by conducting an in-depth field investigation using qualitative research. In doing so, it addresses issues related to information trust, professional ethics and risk in e-government implementation