Thesis-2007-AlAwadhi.pdf (35.24 MB)
E-government in Kuwait : attitudes and perceptions
thesis
posted on 2013-07-22, 12:27 authored by Suha A.M. AlAwadhiThe aim of this study was to explore the attitudes and perceptions of citizens towards
the adoption of e-government services in developing countries. This is deemed of value
at a time when e-government initiatives are still emerging in many developing countries
and many government departments and units have put a wide range of materials from
publications and information about government services online for use by citizens.
The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model was
adopted in this study to identify factors that determine the adoption of e-government
services. The use of a theoretical model allowed for formulating hypotheses governing
the relationship between the different variables.
Mixed research methods were utilised to fulfil the aims and objectives of this study.
The quantitative and qualitative methods used included a questionnaire survey, which
incorporated the amended version of the UTAUT model and which was completed by
more than 800 students at Kuwait University, as well as usability testing, focus groups,
interviews and open-ended questions. The study found that performance expectancy,
effort expectancy, peer influence and facilitating conditions were direct determinants of
usage intention and behaviour while Internet experience and type of academic course
moderated the impact of the determinants on usage intention and behaviour.
The results also showed that the general attitudes towards adopting e-government
services were positive. The study identified a number of factors that positively
influenced the attitude of respondents regarding the adoption of e-government services.
These factors were related to reforming bureaucracy, usefulness, eliminating the
importance of connections (wasta), facilitating government-public communication,
reducing gender differences, and including all people in society. However, negative
attitudes identified towards adopting e-government services related to fears and
concerns about issues of technology, such as privacy and security. Other issues were
related to lack of awareness, increasing unemployment rates, lack of faith in
government, the belief that face-to-face interaction would add value to dealings with
government, and most importantly, lack of capacity building. The evaluation of the
Kuwait e-government website, as supplemental information, also identified a number of
strengths and weaknesses that contributed to an increase or decrease in the potential
adoption of e-government services. All adoption findings identified in this study were
modelled through the use of a systemic approach which provided some insight into and
understanding of the factors underlying the adoption of e-government services in
developing countries.
Based on the results and conclusions of the research, recommendations were made to
officials responsible for the e-government project and ideas for further research were
identified.
History
School
- Science
Department
- Information Science
Publisher
© Suha A. M. AlAwadhiPublication date
2007Notes
A Doctoral Thesis. Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of Doctor of Philosophy of Loughborough University.EThOS Persistent ID
uk.bl.ethos.571651Language
- en