Determinants of e-government readiness: A literature review

In all countries, some services are being provided and delivered through the use of information and communication technologies (ICT). Over the past decade, the use of electronic services (e-services) has proved to be efficient and effective in the private sectors providing much needed financial viability and business growth. Governments around the world have since joined the bandwagon, and empirical research provides evidence that countries that have mature electronic government (e-government) systems enjoy improved efficiency and effectiveness in the public service provision and delivery. There are many measurement instruments that measure a country´s readiness for use of ICT or e-government, and these measurements are commonly used for comparative purposes at regional, international and global levels. The instruments measure the capacity of a country to use ICT in the provision and delivery of services. This paper reviews these instruments and explores literature on existing methodologies on determining a country´s readiness to adopt and use information and communication technologies in public services. The objective of these reviews is to identify critical determinants of a country´s electronic readiness (e-readiness).