Presupuesto para la propuesta de planeación

The research being carried out here pertains to how the usability of government websites is related to the overall usage of e-government systems among citizens. By investigating potential contributory factors such as accessibility, functionality and services offered, we shall be able to see a potential relationship. This literature review has given an in-depth overview of the main theories behind effective e-government implementation such as data readiness and institutional capacity, as they are key to understanding how these fundamental decisions are made when it comes to policy in the area. Set in the context of the wider literature on e- government, these theories have an important place in the discussion at hand. This literature review was carried out using high quality, peer reviewed studies and reports, predominantly from the field of academia. By intersecting this with published reports from international institutions such as the UN, it is possible to get a rounded understanding of the topic. It is important to consider multiple different perspectives for when engaging the literature on a certain topic, and e-government services are no different. The differences between case studies from around the world as discussed above show that needs are different for different groups. A rounded theoretical explanation as above gives insights into how and why concepts such as the digital divide exist, and some of the explanatory factors behind the diversity in human experiences.

The literature on e-government is still relatively new, only having taken hold since the turn of the century. Due to the constantly changing nature of the internet, how people interact with technology and changes in policy, it is highly difficult to give an overarching idea of the concept and how it is utilised. This thesis does not aim to give a revolutionary account of internet usage and interactions with the governments; however, it will look to seek explanations as to which factors are most engaging for users. This will attempt to show a relationship between the number of users and the usability of online services, by taking into account accessibility, functionality and the provision of services. By comparing these three factors

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across the case studies of the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, this thesis hopes to be able to identify a relationship between usability and usage numbers. This is a topic which has not been studied extensively - when it was, often by accessibility (Bertot, et al., 2014, or functionality (Nam, 2014), or provision of services (Bekkers and Homburg, 2007), not combined. By combining and comparing these features, it can be seen how they are related to the number of users. This research aims to fill that gap in the literature and provide a nuanced view into how physical attributes of a website contribute to usage on a wider scale based in a strong theoretical understanding. Details of the research design will be discussed more extensively in the following chapter; however, it is important to consider the implications of a strong theoretical background and the role this research will play in the wider literature and common understanding of the topic.

This proposal has value beyond the existing literature as it aims to connect a number of theories on usability. This research aims to assess whether one of these factors is more significant than another, and how they are related to the usage. By analysing the results within the theoretical frameworks of institutional capacity, data readiness and the existing literature on e-government and the digital divide, we will be able to see how differing factors can contribute to the overall usage and usability of online government services. It is important to approach the matter of usage from a number of different angles in order to ascertain the way in which people are affected by their use of online services. By approaching this topic from a human usage angle, we can see how and why people make certain decisions when it comes to their e-government interactions. Combining the factors in order to compare them is a method that has not been experimented with extensively and gives us an opportunity to compare the different concepts behind usability in order to ascertain which factor is the most important.

This research builds on a solid theoretical discussion on e-government, institutional capacity and data readiness frameworks in order to situate the role of citizen’s usage of e- government services in a wider discussion on how to most effectively implement modern technology into government services. The research will engage in a comparative case study across the government websites from three countries, thus addressing the three main hypotheses related to the literature definition of usability. These hypotheses have a solid theoretical base in the current existing research and will provide an interesting insight into how usable the studied websites are and the related impact on usage rates.

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H1. Sites that are easily accessible to a large amount of the population contribute to a higher rate of usage

This refers to the extent to which websites are accessible to members of the population beyond the norm, for example with different mother tongues or disabilities. It is based on the provision of foreign language translations of website content and options for use for people with disabilities and comes from the theory of Bertot et al., (2014).

H2. Sites that are more functional to use contribute to a higher rate of usage

This refers to how easy websites are to use, for example in accordance to their layout, search functions, clarity and content, and is based on the theory of Nam (2014).

H3. Sites that offer a wider range of services contribute to a higher range of usage This refers to the amount and type of services such as transactional, information and democratic, based on Bekkers and Homburg’s (2007) theory of service provision.

3. Research Design and Case Description