State of Digital Literacy: Preparedness of Higher Education Students for E-Administration in Hungary

Abstract

Taking the advantages of electronic administration requires a comprehensive development program. Beyond the technical background, databases and user interfaces, it is necessary to consider personal aspects including preparedness of users and administrators. Increasing the confidence in e-administration is difficult to reach without their advanced IT and ICT competencies. The main challenge can be formulated as improving digital literacy. If receptiveness for novel technological solutions fails, efforts may become redundant. Successful actions in this field are not available without the thorough analysis of present state and critical knowledge elements. The paper summarizes some results of a diagnostic analysis about the ICT utilization in order to establish further research actions about task-technology fit in the field. Research sample consists of public administration students who will play an important role in realizing e-governance. Results show that technical background, as well as general utilization of ICT tools, are no more bottlenecks of success; however, there are relevant education challenges on developing digital literacy.