icegov2012 proceedings

This paper is organized as follows: First, we provide an overview
of e-government implementation in Mexico. Second, we describe
the model that we will use to analyze perceptions about egovernment
services. Finally, we describe the methodology that
will guide the collection and analysis of data.
2. OVERVIEW OF E-GOVERNMENT IN
MEXICO
Mexico is divided into 32 states, which are made up of 2,454
municipalities. Mexico’s government is divided in three levels:
Federal, State and Municipal (local). All levels of government
have implemented e-Government initiatives. At the Federal level,
a relevant achievement in terms of service delivery is the redesign
of the “Citizen Portal” (Portal Ciudadano, http://www.gob.mx).
This portal provides a search engine that acts as a single point of
entry for information and services of the three levels of
government. For example, a citizen considering applying for
public health coverage can conduct one search to find information
on the national public health care system, whether provided by a
federal, state, or local government source. Simplicity and usability
are the main aspects of the Portal's design.
Figure 1. Citizen’s Portal (http://www.gob.mx).
At the state level, a recent study evaluated the 32 State portals
according to five different components: information, interaction,
transactions, integration, and participation. A team of egovernment
experts used a form including 143 questions to
evaluate the portals. They found that Jalisco is in 1st place moving
up from 5th, Aguascalientes is 2nd moving up 15 positions, Baja
California moves into 3rd place from 7th last year respectively.
On the other hand, Puebla, Durango y Coahuila, move down 15,
12 and 9 positions, respectively [11]
At the municipal level, previous research suggests that many local
governments in Mexico do not have the basic infrastructure for
developing a digital government strategy [8] . According to Gil-
Garcia et al., 360 Mexican municipalities (out of 2,454) are
considered moderately or highly technologically prepared. A
more recent study that analyzed 518 local e-government websites
shows that municipalities are making poor use of IT government
openness, web design and Web 2.0 tools. On the demand side,
services offered are not really meeting the needs of citizens [9].
This might be due to the fact that “IT departments have limited
influence on the main government strategies and they do not have
the appropriate organizational structure, trained staff, or budget to
manage a digital government strategy” (p. 2) [10].
In sum, e-Government implementations at the three levels of
government are evolving; not enough to understand the citizens’
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needs yet, but sufficiently to promote new government services
online. Studies focus mostly on the functionality characteristics
of Web portals [11-13] and the public policy aspects of
implementations rather than service provision [12]. There have
been a few efforts to analyze the impact of e-Government and its
interaction with citizens. Trust in the government and perceptions
about the reliability and security of the online service delivery
medium are two important drivers of service utilization in Mexico
[5].
3. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
Adoption of e-government refers to the citizens’ intention to use
public services online, which encompasses the intentions to
receive information, to provide information, and to request
services electronically [14].
This study uses Kumar’s model of E-government adoption [15] to
explain the way citizens are embracing e-government services in
Mexico. According to Kumar et. al., user characteristics, website
design, service quality and satisfaction impact e-government
adoption. User characteristics consist of a) perceived risk, and b)
perceived control. Perceived risk refers to citizens’ concerns
related to the privacy and security of transactions. Previous
research suggests that Mexicans tend to prefer traditional service
delivery methods when the transaction involves disclosure of
personal and financial information [5]. People in Mexico distrust
the Internet to conduct transactions. They also fear their
information could be misused by public servants or other parties.
Thus, we can expect that perceived risk will influence the
behavior of the adoption. Therefore:
H1) Perceived risk about online transactions will influence the
adoption of e-Government services.
Perceived control is defined as user’s perception of being in
charge of the interaction with e-government technologies. If
citizens have more control over the site navigation, the pace or
rhythm of the interaction, and the content being accessed, it can
increase their trust and give them a feeling of more control [15]
ultimately impacting adoption [16]. Therefore:
H.2) Perceived control will influence the adoption of egovernment
services.
Citizen traits that are of interest in understanding adoption include
demographic factors such as age and education. Higher educated
individuals are more comfortable using the Internet to access
information and to shop [17]. Research has shown that individuals
who attain a certain level of familiarity with online purchases tend
to be more confident about their skills to access services online
[18]. Age also influences adoption. Younger adults, especially
those under age 25, are more interested in using new technologies
to access information and services [17].Thus,
H.3) Demographic factors (age and education) will influence the
adoption of e-government services.
Perceptions related to the design elements of a Web site can also
have a direct impact in e-government adoption. According to
Kumar et al. [15], the design of e-government Web sites can be
evaluated based on their usefulness and ease of use. Perceived
usefulness is considered as an extrinsic motivation. It is defined as
the degree that a person assigns to the value of using a particular
information system to improve its work [19, 20]. End-users could
adopt e-Government services when such services deliver a better