Title: Citizen empowerment and adoption of E-governance services: the role of online citizen skills, awareness, and engagement

Authors: Saurabh Gupta; Onkar Nath Mishra; Sunil Kumar

Addresses: Jaipuria Institute of Management, Indirapuram, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh – 201014, India ' Department of Economics, B N M University, Madhepura, Bihar – 852113, India ' School of Management, O P Jindal University Punjipathra, Raigarh, (C.G.) – 496109, India

Abstract: This study investigates the inter-relationship between citizen empowerment and adoption of e-governance services (ADES). Online citizen skills (OCS), online citizen awareness (OCA) and online citizen engagement (OCE) are the prerequisites of successful e-governance adoption. Therefore, it also analysed the mediating role of citizen empowerment in relation between OCS and ADES, OCA and ADES, and OCE and ADES. An e-governance adoption model is proposed based on existing literature especially technology adoption model and citizen empowerment theory. Further, it is empirically tested using field data collected from primary surveys using purposive sampling procedure. Structural equation model was used to assess the proposed research model. The results revealed that citizen empowerment determines the adoption of e-governance. By highlighting the relative importance of online skills, awareness and engagement in e-governance adoption, it identifies the pertinent issues that must be addressed before implementing e-governance system in a developing country.

Keywords: citizen empowerment; e-governance services; OCS; online citizen skills; OCE; online citizen engagement; information and communication technology; SEM; structural equation modelling.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEG.2021.121237

International Journal of Electronic Governance, 2021 Vol.13 No.4, pp.386 - 407

Received: 04 Nov 2020
Accepted: 01 Mar 2021
Published online: 01 Mar 2022 *

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