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The advancement of information and communication technologies (ICT) has led to the development of new applications and services. The fact that Wi-Fi-enabled devices and wireless networks expedite the efficient operation and delivery of public services (Ghyasi & Kushchu, 2004). The smart technologies such as mobile devices have revolutionised the approach to operations management in industries (Lansiti & Lakhani, 2014). With smart Government initiative, citizens can get to access government services using mobile internet technologies such as mobile phones. Since such technologies allow frequent interactions between governments and citizens (Al-Thunibat et al., 2011), governments around the globe are moving towards smart government using mobile devices to improve the level of connection with citizens, and improve the nature of service arrangement (Abdelghaffar & Magdy 2012).
Smart Government initiatives have been launched to provide services to citizens by means of the Internet with different level of success (Al-khamayseh et al., 2007; Jasimuddin et al., 2017). The fact that smart systems enable the use and deployment of information to meet the needs of users (Khan et al., 2017). Smart Government refers to the use of the Internet and mobile computing that has the ability to transform relationships with end-users, businesses, and other arms of government (World Bank, 2015). The impact of mobile devices is so wide that the government organisations have undergone a digital business transformation in knowledge society (Islam et al., 2017). Due to this, the interactions between end-users and the public sector, in terms of lifestyles as well as business transactions has been changed.
The number of smartphone users worldwide today surpasses three billion (O’Dea, 2020). Despite the large number of smart-government initiatives which have been launched in many parts of the world, most of these initiatives were met with low rates of acceptance by citizens, especially in developing countries (Al-Thunibat et al., 2011). Policy-makers and scholars face the questions relating to the opportunities and challenges of smart-government services.
There is limited research that focus on the investigation of the successful adoption of smart-government services (Almuraqab & Jasimuddin, 2016). Among developing countries, the Arab world seems to have attracted little attention in terms of the adoption of smart government. Due to the massive smart-technology revolution, the UAE government now is working smarter by providing services over smart devices. The UAE is among the best countries in the world that keeps pace with leading programs in governmental development, service development, and innovation fields (Al Zaabi, 2019). The reality in the UAE is that the performance of the government sector in the delivery of services to end-users is below average (UN e-government development index, 2014). Surprisingly, a large number of the UAE population do not have computers or Internet access. Moreover, Debusmann (2015) reported that 65% of the respondents under study had never used smart-government applications in the UAE.
The success of smart-government initiatives is a function of citizen engagement (Almuraqab, 2017). Parallel to this, Al-Thunibat et al. (2011) suggest that critical engagement between the government and its citizens is required for the government services success. The understanding of smart government acceptance is crucial because the investment in mobile devices is of little value if it is not accepted and used (Oye et al., 2014). Achieving acceptance of smart technologies in government services by citizens is a challenge (Susanto & Goodwin 2011). Against this backdrop, the identification of the factors that influence the acceptance of smart government services is an important research area (Wu et al. 2009). The insights of Venkatesh et al.’s (2003) the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) inspired the theoretical foundation of this study. Hence, this article addresses the issues such as enablers of the operations of smart-government services from the end-users’ perspective in the UAE context which is a major concern of the policy-makers, practitioners and scholars. The paper will help to understand the key issues surrounding the successful operations of smart-government services.