Modelos de madurez y gobierno electrónicoun estudio sobre la intención de uso de los servicios electrónicos por parte de la ciudadanía

Abstract

In recent decades, e-government initiatives have spread throughout the world with the aim of offering better services to citizens. The application of information and communication technologies allows different administrations, through successive phases, to offer citizens more effective, efficient, open, transparent, and participatory services. These phases, called maturity models, are intended to act as a reference framework to determine the maturity point of e-government and serve as a guide to higher levels. Currently, e-government maturity model initiatives place citizens at the center of their challenges, seeking full integration that will allow administrations to offer integrated electronic services with complete and secure transactions, along with access to information and the promotion of citizen participation. In this research work, a theoretical review of the concepts of maturity models and e-government and its most relevant models is carried out to establish the state of the literature in this area. Theoretical analysis shows that a common factor in the maturity models analyzed is the use of new technologies to provide public services to citizens. Different models have been developed to explain the adoption of new processes or technologies by citizens. Of these, the UMEGA model has been chosen in this paper, as it is considered to be the most applicable in the field of e-government. To empirically test the model, a questionnaire with 23 items on the Likert scale was used, obtaining 519 responses. Validity and reliability tests of the partial least squares (PLS) structural equation model were carried out with the Smart PLS statistical software. The statistical study was complemented with a qualitative analysis of fuzzy sets, fs-QCA, to combine symmetrical and asymmetrical perspectives. The results of the latent variables obtained from PLS-SEM were used to perform the fs-QCA analysis. The chosen model shows a high level of prediction. The results show the importance of the attitude in the intention to use, followed by performance expectations, while the rest of the variables have less significant effects. The importance performance matrix, or priority map, considers the mean values of the results, offering similar results. Multigroup analysis indicates that age moderates the influence of perceived risk on attitude towards the use of electronic services, significantly for men. The results of the fs-QCA analysis show that the configurations that must explain the existence of an intention to use electronic services share the presence of attitude, performance expectations, social influence, and facilitating conditions. This research highlights the advantages of combining PLS-SEM and fs-QCA to analyze the causal effects on the results, allowing better conclusions to be reached. This research work aims to enrich relevant research studies on the acceptance and use of e-services offered in the framework of e-government. The results obtained provide relevant information that can help public policy makers decide on a strategy to encourage the use of e-services.