The Impact of e-Politician on the Adoption of e-Service: Perceptions from a sample of South African Municipal IT Heads

TL;DR

This study investigates how the use of IT by elected municipal representatives influences the adoption of e-services in South African municipalities, highlighting the importance of political IT use in developing country contexts.

Contribution

It provides empirical evidence linking elected officials' IT use to e-service adoption and explores related legal and security aspects in a developing country setting.

Findings

IT use by representatives impacts e-service adoption

Correlation between IT use and e-service laws and security

High mobile phone access does not necessarily lead to IT exploitation

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to establish whether the use of information technology (IT) by elected municipal representatives, for constituency work, emboldens the adoption of e-service in municipals of a developing country. The research data was obtained through the completion of a questionnaire by a sample of respondents who serve as authorities of IT in South African municipals. The findings from both descriptive and inferential data analysis of collected data confirm that the use of IT by elected municipal representatives for constituency work impacts the adoption of e-service in municipals. Furthermore, the use of IT by elected municipal representatives for constituency work correlated with both e-service laws and e-service security. This study contributes to a better understanding of choices needed when planning for the adoption of e-service initiatives in municipals of developing countries. Given that 87.2% of respondents are aware of a high access to telephone mobile, a further research is needed to clarify why most elected municipal representatives of a developing country choose not to exploit IT for their constituency work, and similarly why municipals of a developing country do not exploit IT to provide services.