Maria Aristea Kalamatianou
Keywords: e-government; evaluation model; unified theory of acceptance and use of technology; public administration; independed authority.
The main objective of every government is to provide efficient and effective services to citizens. Recently the Greek Government has devoted significant effort to streamlining business processes using ICT to better manage public administration resources. To this end, public sector services are designed so that they are accessed through single points, while increasing transparency and reducing cycle time for executing processes and disseminating information to civil and other agencies. To control the services provided by state agencies and to improve them continuously, it seems essential that they are continuously evaluated by users. E-government needs to be grounded on in-depth understanding of user needs, perceptions and other factors influencing its uptake. This paper focuses on the field of e-government and more precisely describes an evaluation method for investigating the success of an e-government project. Specifically, a technology adoption model is proposed and developed, which focuses on the specific characteristics of users for the on-line services of an Independent Authority. The model is essentially based on the framework of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and the Use of Technology (UTAUT2) model, which has been enhanced with four additional criteria. The findings reveal that behavioral intention and therefore usage intention are influenced by enablers, as effort expectancy, performance expectancy, social influence, price value and habit, as well as inhibitors such as privacy, profession and user satisfaction. The enhanced model furthers the discussion and development of technology adoption models and helps the government sectors regulate their strategies and future plans to facilitate successful adoption and diffusion of e-services in Greece.