Preferences of Kuwait’s Residents for E-Government Services and Portal Factors

Abstract

E-government involves the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) by government agencies to provide information and services to residents, businesses, and various arms of government. It can provide speedy, inexpensive, trustworthy, and reliable delivery of government services to households and businesses. The State of Kuwait is in an intermediate stage of implementing e-government services (e-services). An understanding of its residents’ perspectives can help the government better plan the future rollout of e-services and e-government portal factors, as well as provide useful insights to governments of other countries. The authors conducted identified 37 e-services (classified into seven broad factors) and 26 features important to user acceptance of online sites. Factors were identified in prior research as characterizing the categories of services typically offered by e-government portals. The authors hypothesized that the importance of the seven e-services factors to Kuwaiti residents would positively relate to the importance of the portal success factors. The goal of this research was to identify which portal success factors would likely encourage use of the e-services factors that are important to Kuwaiti residents. This study provides several useful implications for Kuwaiti government officials, other countries, and e-government researchers. Each of the four portal factors -- Quality, Appeal, Control and Savings, and Personalization -- was positively associated with the importance of at least one or more of the e-services factors, indicating their individual relevance to the design of the portal. Two categories -- government resources and resident feedback services -- were unrelated to any of the portal factors. The findings demonstrate that the State of Kuwait may need to improve involvement of its residents in the development of national policies. Including the voice of the residents through the portal, and acting on that feedback, may improve support for government initiatives as well as build trust in the government. This study sought to improve e-participation in Kuwait and other developing countries. The findings suggest to governments that by selectively improving the quality, appeal, efficiency, and personalization of the e-government portal, it may be possible to achieve public buy-in and increased usage of specific e-services.