Citizens’ Perceptions towards e-Governance: Field Study
E-governance is an emerging and challenging initiative in developing countries. It is not only concerning the provision of services through the use ICT but rather entails building external interactions with citizen and businesses, enhancing democracy and trust of the political institutions of government. It embraces among other principles, openness, accountability and citizen engagement in public policy process. This study aims at finding users’ satisfaction with three chosen dimensions of e-governance, namely: openness, collaborative governance, and participation. These dimensions of e-governance are neither studied before in the context of Arab countries and nor explored earlier in relation to some demographics variables. A study of 900 users of e-government in United Arab Emirates (UAE) was undertaken to examine how gender, age, education, nationality, and employment affect their satisfaction with e-governance. Generally, satisfaction ratings vary significantly with these variables. However, the overall level of satisfaction with the three attributes was less favorable. Knowing the differences of citizen’s perceptions towards e-governance services would help policymakers in the design of effective e-governance strategy.
[1] Heeks, R., Understanding eGovernance for Development, Institute for
Development Policy and Management, Manchester, 2001
[2] Mwangakala, Hilda. A., “The Effect of Demographic Characteristics on
Citizens’ Usage of Government Websites”, Social Science Research
Network, September 14, 2012 Available at SSRN:
http://ssm.com/abstract=216597 or http://dx.doi.org./102139/ssm.
[3] Lenihan, D. , “Realigning governance: from e-government to edemocracy’’
OECD Centre for Collaborative Government,2002:
Available at: www.collaborativeegovernment.com (accessed 3
December 2007)
[4] Gartner Group: Web Services: An e-Government Perspective, 2nd FIG
Regional Conference, Marrakech, Morocco, December 2 – 5, 2003
[5] http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-
URL_ID=3038&URL_DO=DO_PRINTPAGE&URL_SECTION=201.h
tml
[6] Murad, Mohammad Hasan. , “Improving Transparency Through Right
to Information and E-governance: A Bangladesh Perspective”, Open
Government: A Journal on Freedom of Information, Vol. 6, Issue 1,
2010, pp. 1-18
[7] Venkatesh, V., Morris, M., Davis, G., and Davis, F. , “User Acceptance
of Information Technology: Toward a Unified View”, MIS Quarterly,
27: 3., 2003 pp. 425-478
[8] Kolsaker, Ailsa. And Lee-Kelley, Liz. , “Citizens’ Attitudes Towards Egovernment
and E-governance: A UK Study”, International Journal of
Public Sector Management, Vol. 21. No.7, 2008, pp.723-38
[9] Al Shibly, Haitham Hmoud. & Tadros, Ibrahim H., “Employee’s
Perceptions towards Electronic Government in Jordan”, European
Journal of Scientific Research, Vol. 48, No.2, 2010 pp. 169-176
[10] Christensen, Tom. & Laegreid, Per. (2010), “Civil Servants’ Perceptions
Regarding ICT Use in Norwegian Central Government”, Journal of
Information Technology & Politics, Vol. 7, Issue 1,2010, pp. 3 -2
[11] Singh, Gurmeet., Pathak, R.D., & Naz, Rafia., “E-governance for
improved public sector service delivery in India, Ethiopia and Fiji”,
International Journal of Public Sector Management, Vol. 23, No. 3,
2010, pp. 254-275
[12] Choudrie, Jyoti & Dwivedi, Yogesh. , A Survey of Citizens’ Awareness
and Adoption of E-Government Initiatives, The ‘Government Gateway’:
A united Kingdom Perspective, eGovernment Workshop’ 05 (eGOV05),
2005 Brunel University. West Landon, UK
[13] Agrawal, Anand., Shah, Pragya., & Wadhwa, Varun. , EGOSQ – Users’
Assessment of E-Governance Online-Service: A quality Measurement
Instrumentation, Presented at International Conference on E-governance,
28th – 30th December, Hyderabad, India,2007, pp. 231-244
[14] Al-adawi, Z., Yousafzai, S., & Pallister, J. Paper Presented at the Second
International Conference on Innovations in Information Technology
(IIT’05), Dubai, UAE, September 26-28, 2005
[15] Al-Shafi, Shafi. & Weerakkody, Vishanth. “Factors Affecting Egovernment
Adoption in the State of Qatar”, Presented at European and
Mediterranean Conference systems, April 12-13 2010, Abu Dhabi, UAE
[16] Alshehri, Mohammed., Drew, Steve., Thamer, Alhussain., and
Alghamdi, Rayed., The Effects of Website Quality on Adoption of EGovernment
Services: An Empirical Study Applying UTAUT Model Using SEM, 23rd Australasian Conference on Information Systems, 3-5
Dec 2012, Geelong. Australia
[17] Lin, Fenayi., Fofanah, Seedy S., & Liang, Deron, Assessing Citizens
Adoption of e_government Initiatives in Gambia: A Validation of the
Technology Acceptance Model in Information Systems Success,
Government Information Quarterly, Vo. 28, Issue 2, 2011, pp. 271-279
[18] Gilmore, Andrew & D’Souza, Clare., “Service excellence in egovernance
issues: An Indian case study”, Journal of Administration &
Governance, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2006, pp.1-14
[19] Beynon-Davies P. , “Constructing electronic government: the case of the
UK Inland Revenue”, In Proceedings of the 12th European Conference
on System Sciences, 2004
[20] Choudrie, J., Papazafeiropoulou A., & Light, B ., “E-government
Policies for broadband adoption: the case of the UK Government”, In
Proceedings of the Americas Conference on Information Systems, New
York, August 6-8, 2004b
[21] Cottam, I. Kawalek., and Shaw, D., Project Research in Information
Systems: A Student’s Guide’,. Macmillan Press Ltd, London, 2004
[22] George, K. , ‘Network analysis of disconnect in the hollow state: the
case of e-government services portals’, In Proceedings of the 12th
European Conference on Information Systems, Turku, Finland, June 14-
16,2004
[23] Rhee, K.Y. & Kim, Wang-Bae., The Adoption and Use of the Internet in
South Korea, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, Vol. 9,
Issue 4, 2004
[24] Jun, Kyu-Nahm. & Wang, Feng., E-government and Citizen Attitudes
Towards Local Government in China: Transparency and Capacity in
Service Delivery, Paper Presented for PMRA (Public Management
Research Association), International Conference at Fudan University,
Shanghai, May 25th-27th 2012
[25] Ndou, V., “E-Government for Developing Countries: Opportunities and
Challenges”, The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in
Developing Countries, Vol. 26, No.1, 2004, pp. 1-24
[26] Kerby, Richard. (2008). Electronic/Mobile Government in Arab States:
Building Capacity in Knowledge Management through Partnership.
Presentation, UNDESA. Beirut, Lebanon.
[27] Adeyemo, A. B., “E-government implementation in Nigeria: An
assessment of Nigeria’ s global e-government ranking”, Journal of
Internet and Information System, Vol. 2 (1), 2011, pp. 11-19
[28] Saxena, K.B.C. , “Towards excellence in e-governance”, International
Journal of Public Sector Management, Vol. 18, 2005, No. 6, pp. 498-
513.
[29] Garson, G. David. , Public Information Technology and E-Governance:
Managing the Virtual State, Jones and Barlett Publishers, Canada, 2006
[30] Reddick, C. G., “Citizen interaction with e-Government: From the
streets to servers?”, Government Information Quarterly. Vol.22, 2005,
pp. 38-57
[31] UN Global E-Government Survey (2008, 2010, 2012). United Nations
Department of Economic and Social Affairs/Division for Public
Administration and Development Management at:
http://www.un.unpan.org/dpag/
[32] Salem, Fadi. And Jarrar, Yasar., Government 2.0? Technology, Trust
and Collaboration in the UAE Public Sector, Dubai School of
Government, 2011
[33] Al Athmay, Alaa Aldin, E-Governance in Arab Countries: Status and
callanges, Global Journal of Business Research, Vol. 7, No. 5, 2013.
[1] Heeks, R., Understanding eGovernance for Development, Institute for
Development Policy and Management, Manchester, 2001
[2] Mwangakala, Hilda. A., “The Effect of Demographic Characteristics on
Citizens’ Usage of Government Websites”, Social Science Research
Network, September 14, 2012 Available at SSRN:
http://ssm.com/abstract=216597 or http://dx.doi.org./102139/ssm.
[3] Lenihan, D. , “Realigning governance: from e-government to edemocracy’’
OECD Centre for Collaborative Government,2002:
Available at: www.collaborativeegovernment.com (accessed 3
December 2007)
[4] Gartner Group: Web Services: An e-Government Perspective, 2nd FIG
Regional Conference, Marrakech, Morocco, December 2 – 5, 2003
[5] http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-
URL_ID=3038&URL_DO=DO_PRINTPAGE&URL_SECTION=201.h
tml
[6] Murad, Mohammad Hasan. , “Improving Transparency Through Right
to Information and E-governance: A Bangladesh Perspective”, Open
Government: A Journal on Freedom of Information, Vol. 6, Issue 1,
2010, pp. 1-18
[7] Venkatesh, V., Morris, M., Davis, G., and Davis, F. , “User Acceptance
of Information Technology: Toward a Unified View”, MIS Quarterly,
27: 3., 2003 pp. 425-478
[8] Kolsaker, Ailsa. And Lee-Kelley, Liz. , “Citizens’ Attitudes Towards Egovernment
and E-governance: A UK Study”, International Journal of
Public Sector Management, Vol. 21. No.7, 2008, pp.723-38
[9] Al Shibly, Haitham Hmoud. & Tadros, Ibrahim H., “Employee’s
Perceptions towards Electronic Government in Jordan”, European
Journal of Scientific Research, Vol. 48, No.2, 2010 pp. 169-176
[10] Christensen, Tom. & Laegreid, Per. (2010), “Civil Servants’ Perceptions
Regarding ICT Use in Norwegian Central Government”, Journal of
Information Technology & Politics, Vol. 7, Issue 1,2010, pp. 3 -2
[11] Singh, Gurmeet., Pathak, R.D., & Naz, Rafia., “E-governance for
improved public sector service delivery in India, Ethiopia and Fiji”,
International Journal of Public Sector Management, Vol. 23, No. 3,
2010, pp. 254-275
[12] Choudrie, Jyoti & Dwivedi, Yogesh. , A Survey of Citizens’ Awareness
and Adoption of E-Government Initiatives, The ‘Government Gateway’:
A united Kingdom Perspective, eGovernment Workshop’ 05 (eGOV05),
2005 Brunel University. West Landon, UK
[13] Agrawal, Anand., Shah, Pragya., & Wadhwa, Varun. , EGOSQ – Users’
Assessment of E-Governance Online-Service: A quality Measurement
Instrumentation, Presented at International Conference on E-governance,
28th – 30th December, Hyderabad, India,2007, pp. 231-244
[14] Al-adawi, Z., Yousafzai, S., & Pallister, J. Paper Presented at the Second
International Conference on Innovations in Information Technology
(IIT’05), Dubai, UAE, September 26-28, 2005
[15] Al-Shafi, Shafi. & Weerakkody, Vishanth. “Factors Affecting Egovernment
Adoption in the State of Qatar”, Presented at European and
Mediterranean Conference systems, April 12-13 2010, Abu Dhabi, UAE
[16] Alshehri, Mohammed., Drew, Steve., Thamer, Alhussain., and
Alghamdi, Rayed., The Effects of Website Quality on Adoption of EGovernment
Services: An Empirical Study Applying UTAUT Model Using SEM, 23rd Australasian Conference on Information Systems, 3-5
Dec 2012, Geelong. Australia
[17] Lin, Fenayi., Fofanah, Seedy S., & Liang, Deron, Assessing Citizens
Adoption of e_government Initiatives in Gambia: A Validation of the
Technology Acceptance Model in Information Systems Success,
Government Information Quarterly, Vo. 28, Issue 2, 2011, pp. 271-279
[18] Gilmore, Andrew & D’Souza, Clare., “Service excellence in egovernance
issues: An Indian case study”, Journal of Administration &
Governance, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2006, pp.1-14
[19] Beynon-Davies P. , “Constructing electronic government: the case of the
UK Inland Revenue”, In Proceedings of the 12th European Conference
on System Sciences, 2004
[20] Choudrie, J., Papazafeiropoulou A., & Light, B ., “E-government
Policies for broadband adoption: the case of the UK Government”, In
Proceedings of the Americas Conference on Information Systems, New
York, August 6-8, 2004b
[21] Cottam, I. Kawalek., and Shaw, D., Project Research in Information
Systems: A Student’s Guide’,. Macmillan Press Ltd, London, 2004
[22] George, K. , ‘Network analysis of disconnect in the hollow state: the
case of e-government services portals’, In Proceedings of the 12th
European Conference on Information Systems, Turku, Finland, June 14-
16,2004
[23] Rhee, K.Y. & Kim, Wang-Bae., The Adoption and Use of the Internet in
South Korea, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, Vol. 9,
Issue 4, 2004
[24] Jun, Kyu-Nahm. & Wang, Feng., E-government and Citizen Attitudes
Towards Local Government in China: Transparency and Capacity in
Service Delivery, Paper Presented for PMRA (Public Management
Research Association), International Conference at Fudan University,
Shanghai, May 25th-27th 2012
[25] Ndou, V., “E-Government for Developing Countries: Opportunities and
Challenges”, The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in
Developing Countries, Vol. 26, No.1, 2004, pp. 1-24
[26] Kerby, Richard. (2008). Electronic/Mobile Government in Arab States:
Building Capacity in Knowledge Management through Partnership.
Presentation, UNDESA. Beirut, Lebanon.
[27] Adeyemo, A. B., “E-government implementation in Nigeria: An
assessment of Nigeria’ s global e-government ranking”, Journal of
Internet and Information System, Vol. 2 (1), 2011, pp. 11-19
[28] Saxena, K.B.C. , “Towards excellence in e-governance”, International
Journal of Public Sector Management, Vol. 18, 2005, No. 6, pp. 498-
513.
[29] Garson, G. David. , Public Information Technology and E-Governance:
Managing the Virtual State, Jones and Barlett Publishers, Canada, 2006
[30] Reddick, C. G., “Citizen interaction with e-Government: From the
streets to servers?”, Government Information Quarterly. Vol.22, 2005,
pp. 38-57
[31] UN Global E-Government Survey (2008, 2010, 2012). United Nations
Department of Economic and Social Affairs/Division for Public
Administration and Development Management at:
http://www.un.unpan.org/dpag/
[32] Salem, Fadi. And Jarrar, Yasar., Government 2.0? Technology, Trust
and Collaboration in the UAE Public Sector, Dubai School of
Government, 2011
[33] Al Athmay, Alaa Aldin, E-Governance in Arab Countries: Status and
callanges, Global Journal of Business Research, Vol. 7, No. 5, 2013.
@article{"International Journal of Business, Human and Social Sciences:65098", author = "Alaa-Aldin Abdul Rahim A. Al Athmay", title = "Citizens’ Perceptions towards e-Governance: Field Study", abstract = "E-governance is an emerging and challenging initiative in developing countries. It is not only concerning the provision of services through the use ICT but rather entails building external interactions with citizen and businesses, enhancing democracy and trust of the political institutions of government. It embraces among other principles, openness, accountability and citizen engagement in public policy process. This study aims at finding users’ satisfaction with three chosen dimensions of e-governance, namely: openness, collaborative governance, and participation. These dimensions of e-governance are neither studied before in the context of Arab countries and nor explored earlier in relation to some demographics variables. A study of 900 users of e-government in United Arab Emirates (UAE) was undertaken to examine how gender, age, education, nationality, and employment affect their satisfaction with e-governance. Generally, satisfaction ratings vary significantly with these variables. However, the overall level of satisfaction with the three attributes was less favorable. Knowing the differences of citizen’s perceptions towards e-governance services would help policymakers in the design of effective e-governance strategy.
", keywords = "E-governance, United Arab Emirates, Citizens' perceptions.", volume = "7", number = "9", pages = "2582-9", }
