A Study on Promoting Senior Citizens' Use of e-Government Services as an Effective Means for Reducing Digital Divide

E-government refers to the delivery of government information and services online through the Internet or other digital means. Unlike traditional structures, e-government systems are two-way, and available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The interactive aspects of e-government allow both citizens and bureaucrats to send and receive information. Criticism about the provision of e-Government services, however, has proposed a more user-oriented approach. The user needs to be placed at the center of the development and the provision of e-Government services. Furthermore, e-government literatures seldom explore acceptance issues among the aged. Attempting to address this gap, we take the approach based on a combination of Technology Acceptance Model and Theory of Planned Behavior, with data gathered via a questionnaire from service users over 50 years and older. The findings indicate that perceived usefulness, ease of use, subjective norms, trust, visibility, facilitating conditions and political efficacy are direct or indirect predictors of citizens‘ intention to use an e-government service. Implications of this study for research and practice are presented.

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