Factors Determining the Use of E-Government Services: An Empirical Study on Russian Students in China

Introduction

The search for modernized and better way for public sector and government agencies to interact with and enhance the delivery of service to citizens have led to the adoption, development, and integration of e-government in the public administration of state institutions. Government and public-sector agencies are harnessing the power as well as the benefits provided by Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to improve the delivery of public services and achieve maximum interaction with the citizens. The inclusion of ICT in the public administration of state institutions has occasioned a major departure from the traditional methods of public service delivery to the modernized electronic format (Al-Hawary & Al-Menhaly, 2017). E-government is the electronic interaction in the form of transactional and informational exchange between and among government, public sector agencies and the general public like citizens and businesses (Abramson, 2001). A broader definition of e-government is the provision of electronic services to citizens and businesses; improve public and government performance; enhance the democratic processes through e-democracy and e-participation and lastly, ensuring social development and bridging the digital divide (Abu-Shanab, 2013). The purpose of e-government is to improve public service delivery of state institutions to citizens (Imran & Gregor, 2007). The adoption of e-government provides numerous benefits such as enhancing the operations and services of government agencies and improves information exchange between the public/state institutions and the general public (Alshehri, Drew, & AlGhamdi, 2013). E-government is a revolution which is meant to bring greater quality, efficiency, effectiveness, and transparency in the administration of public state institutions (Hassan, 2017). The concept of e-government is an important e-service tool which is expected to define the existing and future interactions between the government and its citizens (Abu-Shanab, 2014).

E-government has been categorized into the supply side and the demand side. The supply side has to do with government actions in terms of implementation whilst the demand side is concerned with the acceptance or use of e-government services (Lim, Tan, Cyr, Pan & Xiao, 2012). Several studies have examined the demand side of e-government by exploring the factors determining or influencing the adoption and use of e-government services (Alotaibi, Sandhu, & Houghton, 2014; Cegarra-Navarro, Eldridge, Martinez-Caro, & Polo, 2013; Komba & Lwoga, 2015; Lai & Pires, 2010; Ranaweera, 2016; Zafiropoulos, Karavasilis, & Vrana, 2012). But most if not all of these studies, have focused on the citizens of specific countries and hence there are few studies which have examined the acceptance of e-government services from the perspectives of non-citizens. Since the provision of public services must cover the non-citizens of a country, it is therefore imperative that predictors of e-government service adoption from foreign national’s perspectives be considered.

Consequently, the purpose of this current study is to examine the factors determining the foreign nationals in China willingness to adopt and use e-government services. Specifically, this study would examine the factors influencing Russian students in China intention to use e-government services. To achieve the objective of this study, the following research questions would be investigated:

• 1.

  What factors determine the willingness to use e-government services?

• 2.

  What is the extent of significant relationship that exists between these factors?

• 3.

  Do demographic factors such as age, gender and education have positive impact on the perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use of e-government services

• 4.

  Does language barrier deter the willingness to use e-government services?