eGovernment MONITOR
Initial Situation
Despite the growing interest for social media, e-commerce and online banking; the persistent reluctance of citizens to use e-government services has resulted in more specific research within the last decade to increase understanding of the factors influencing the adoption of e-government services from the citizens’ perspective. Being at a similar stage of economic growth and having comparable technological infrastructures, the rate of adoption varies considerably across countries. Mainly focusing on the supply perspective, prior research has not shed light on the citizens’ expectations, concerns and usage behavior. Furthermore, most similar surveys either remain rather superficial (provide only an overview of the e-government usage) or fail to collect representative survey data resulting in a low external validity of studies.
Project Aim
The eGovernment MONITOR is an ongoing series of international surveys delivering detailed findings on actual usage of e-government services, as well as the success factors and barriers of e-government adoption. The aim of this project is reflecting the user perspective in order to improve the nationwide adoption of e-government services especially in Germany. The study covers online public services including online tax filing as well as open government services like open data portals. Information on user preferences and user behavior is collected for each of these government contact types.
Realization
Data is collected from nationwide representative samples of Internet users from various countries including Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The surveys are conducted by using the Computer-Assisted Web Interviewing (CAWI) technique which enables the administration of web surveys to very large populations internationally. By using a stratified sampling method where the entire populations are divided into different strata of age, gender and formal education; the presence of all key subgroups within the populations are ensured. The surveys are conducted on an annual basis since 2010, enabling an analysis of changes in analyzed populations over time.
Work Packages:
- Kick-off workshop with partners to discuss the main aspects (topics, countries, etc.) of the upcoming survey
- Development and translation of the survey questions
- Conduction of the survey
- Statistical analysis of the results
- Publication of the final study and dissemination of the main findings
Value
Published in cooperation with D21, the eGovernment MONITOR is one of the first systematic studies that investigates the user perspective and presents a detailed comparison of e-government delivery and performance across countries. It applies a theory based research framework which analyses and compares impact factors on e-government diffusion internationally. The research model draws on theories around diffusion of innovations and technology acceptance. Beside classic e-government services the survey also covers open government services and looks at the future importance of smart phones and other mobile devices for the usage of such services. Since 2012 the eGovernment MONITOR develops a user typology of e-government and e-participation users in order to gain insights similar to those on target groups in marketing and thus improve services and communication measures.
Stakeholder
Scientific Partners
Technische Universität München, Chair for Information Systems (Prof. Dr. Krcmar)
Institute for Public Information Management (ipima)
Business Partners
Initiative D21
TNS Deutschland GmbH
Research Funding
The project is funded by a group of sponsors. For a list of partners, see: www.egovernment-monitor.de/partner.html
Additional Information
Contact
Dr. Andreas Hein (Contact Person)