An online focus group approach to e-Government acceptance and use

Abstract

The emergence and widespread use of Information and Communication Technologies enabled government agencies to develop their capacity for citizens interaction, hence providing better public services. These electronic services, typically known as e-Government, have been undergoing significant development over the last few years. Information technologies have become one of the central elements in electronic governance today, and probably they will outstand in the future too. Despite the clear advantages inherent in e-Government services usage, the interaction rate between citizens and governments is still low and considered to be unsatisfactory. In order to understand which determinants may influence and trigger the adoption of e-Government services by civil society, a research methodology consisting of a theory-based qualitative validation, has been defined. This validation is performed by an Online Focus Group, where several experts were involved with the goal of reaching a set of remarkable considerations about potential determinants that can influence the use of e-Government services.