An empirical study into the effect of the digital divide on the intention to adopt e-government

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between the digital gap and the intention of Jordanians towards e-government usage. It focused on three components of the digital divide namely access, skills, and innovativeness. In addition, the research investigated how socio-demographic factors influence this connection. Data comprised 620 valid replies to questionnaires issued to 700 Jordanian citizens aged 22 and older who resided in urban and rural areas. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26 and Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS) version 24 were employed in data analyses and hypotheses testing. The results showed that all three aspects of the digital divide had a significant influence (access, skills, and innovativeness) on the intent of Jordanian citizens to utilize e-government, and the dimension of access imparted the strongest impact, followed by the dimension of skills and then the dimension of innovativeness. Additionally, it was discovered that gender, age, and education were the socio-demographic factors that could weaken the impact of the digital divide on the intentions of user to access e-government services. Contrariwise, the factor of income did not show a similar impact. Furthermore, perceived security significantly impacted the propensity towards e-government usage. Trust played a significant role in mediating the link between perceived security and the intention to engage in e-government.