Information Technology Reference
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through free Wi-Fi or kiosks. The report also suggests that the lack of using social
media to leverage the adoption of e-services explains the low uptake. The report
states that only 40 % of governments use a social networking site.
The UN report explores the role sociocultural factors play in influencing the
uptake of e-government services by measuring each country's Human Resource
Capital index. The Index is a weighted average that is composite of two indicators:
the adult literacy rate and the combined primary, secondary, and tertiary gross
enrolment ratio, with two thirds of the weight assigned to adult literacy rate and one
third of the weight assigned to the gross enrolment ratio. However, a number of
sociocultural factors such as power distances, individualism, government transpar-
ency, citizen's trust in government, and citizen's privacy concerns are not included.
We argue that there is a need to adjust the Human Capital index by introducing not
only the adult literacy rate and the enrollment ratio (which could be either demand
or supply side factor but mainly focus on the supply side) but also adding other
sociocultural perspectives such as privacy and trust to achieve better e-government
development indicators.
The UN 2012 acknowledges the privacy and security challenges facing many
countries. The report states that the majority - 59 % - of governments' websites
around the world, mostly from developing countries, lack a privacy policy. Yet the
existence or absence of this feature is not part of the EGDI. The report also states
that almost half of the countries in Europe display secure links on their national
websites, while only one in Africa appears to do so. However, the existence or
absence of such security features in the website is also not part of the EGDI.
Interview data from a current study conducted by one of the authors that
investigates factors that influence individuals' uptake of e-government in Abu
Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) suggest that privacy concerns, trust in govern-
ment and security concerns are all influencing factors that shape potential
e-government user decisions to use or not to use online services. The results clearly
indicate that end-users who perceive government to be trustworthy and transparent
are likely to trust and use the government's online services.
Yet these demand side factors are overlooked by the 2012 UN report, which
suggests that offering more online public services will create more demand for the
services by end users:
E-government innovation and development can position the public sector as a driver
of demand for ICT infrastructure and applications in the broader economy (p. 10).
Promoting the uptake of online services has been considered only from the
supply side. We acknowledge the provision of ICT infrastructure and e-government
application are important factors in e-government development around the world,
but improving citizens' trust in their government in the first place is of equal
importance as people who hold positive views about their government are more
likely to attempt to use online services.
Cultural background and communication preference in addition to the Human
Capital components play a role in their acceptance and use of online services.
Results from the current study noted above showed that participants from the
