Collaborative accountability for sustainable public health: A Korean perspective on the effective use of ICT-based health risk communication

The sustainability of public health practices requires collaboration between the government and its citizens. On the government's side, social media can provide a conduit for communicating health risk information in an effective and timely fashion, while also engaging citizens in informed decision-making. On the citizen's side, information communication technology (ICT)-based practices cannot function unless citizens recognize and act on their responsibility to actively engage with government social media platforms. Despite an increasing interest in understanding the adoption of ICT practices and e-government services for health risk communication, there remains a crucial need for a comprehensive framework to explain which factors determine citizen use of digital government resources. The purpose of this study is to investigate how to increase government accountability for motivating citizens to engage in ICT-based health risk communication, thereby attaining sustainable public health practices through collaborative governance.By integrating trust and health risk information into the e-government adoption model (GAM), this research examines factors that influence citizens' likelihood of using government social media resources. Survey data from 700 Korean citizens were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results indicated that individuals with higher social media competency are more likely to (a) seek risk information through social media and (b) perceive the government's social media sites as easy to use. Consistent with the GAM, intentions to use the government's social media sites for information and interactions appear to increase as citizens perceive more value in using them regarding information quality, ease of use, functional benefit, and security. Furthermore, perceived trust in the government's social media resources appears to function as a mediator of this process. Initial trust in the government is an important determinant of perceptions of its digital resources. Citizens who trust the government tend to evaluate new initiatives positively and are more likely to accept and make use of them.The results of this study can inform policy design and implementation by elucidating the mechanisms that determine citizens' adoption and usage of digital government services. Theoretically, this work expands the GAM to include health risk communication and adds empirical evidence to the small yet growing body of knowledge of e-government initiatives. These findings also highlight the importance of public trust in the government, as this encourages citizens to seek health risk information and assistance from the government. Overall, the data and model generated in this investigation represent an important step toward the successful and sustainable modernization of public services.     

Government Digital Transformation: Understanding the Role of Government Social Media

Government social media has been integrated as part of the government administrative tools to improve public service and promote public goals. However, the current government information literature is limited to understanding government social media adoption and its purpose for political marketing. The present study seeks to understand the role of government social media in promoting government digital initiatives (i.e., government-backed digital currency). The study validated the inter-relationships between government social media effort, privacy concerns, trust in technology, reachability, and citizens' participation in government-initiated digital innovations. A total of 505 responses from Chinese citizens were collected through an online self-administered questionnaire survey, and the data was submitted to a two-stage Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling-Artificial Neural Network analysis. The analytic results revealed that privacy concerns, trust in technology, and reachability positively influence digital participation. In addition, the information quality and perception of trust in government social media have significant positive influences on government social media engagement. The study provides strategic practical suggestions to government agencies in effectively utilizing social media as a communication platform to foster citizens' participation in government's digital initiatives.     

Effects of Predictors of Citizens' Attitudes and Intention to Use Open Government Data and Government 2.0

This research proposes a holistic and integrative theoretical model to discuss the effects of eight predictors of citizens' attitudes towards open government and Government 2.0, and whether these attitudes influence their intention to use open government data in Brazil, one of the founding countries of the Open Government Partnership (OGP). Findings show the effects of six predictors of citizens' attitudes towards open government and government 2.0. In essence, these predictors are ease of use, usefulness, intrinsic motivation, political satisfaction, government trust, and intensity of internet use. This study also indicates that education, income, and region influence the ease of use and usefulness of open data. These findings also mean that public managers and political parties still have “homework’ to do to stimulate citizens' behavior towards open government and government 2.0. These initiatives encompass the government portals quality and data transparency improvement through less restrictive laws. Also, improve politicians' job performance.     

Virtual healthcare in the new normal: Indian healthcare consumers adoption of electronic government telemedicine service

Digital healthcare is in the spotlight due to the prevailing COVID-19 situation. To get the deeper understanding of the healthcare consumers' adoption of e-government telemedicine service (EGTMS), the present research extends the unified model of e-government adoption (UMEGA) with perceived severity, self-efficacy, and political trust. The extended UMEGA model is empirically validated with 452 valid Indian healthcare consumers' responses. The findings reported that performance expectancy, perceived severity, effort expectancy, and perceived risk significantly influenced Indian healthcare consumers' attitudes towards EGTMS. Further political trust showed significant influence over social influence. However, social influence is observed as non-significant. Furthermore, attitude, political trust and facilitating conditions significantly influenced individuals' behavioral intentions towards EGTMS and observed significant influence of self-efficacy on effort expectancy. This is the first study that reveals the critical factors of Indian healthcare consumers' behavioral intention towards EGTMS. With the upsurge in e-government healthcare services, the outcomes of the study will benefit stakeholders such as governmental agencies, marketers, public administrators, and healthcare professionals as they provide suitable strategic recommendations to design and implement e-government telemedicine services.     

What determines success of an e-government service? Validation of an integrative model of e-filing continuance usage

The purpose of this study is to validate an integrated model of e-filing continuance usage. The model has its theoretical basis in the expectancy confirmation theory and the DeLone and McLean's IS Success model. The model is extended to include two additional constructs relevant to e-filing continuance usage: perceived risks and habit. The model is tested using data collected from a sample of 645 e-filing users in Mauritius. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses. Findings suggest that citizens' continuance usage intention of e-filing is influenced by system quality, user satisfaction and habit. User satisfaction had the strongest impact on e-filing continuance usage intention. This study makes a valuable contribution to knowledge through the extension and validation of the ECM and IS Success model to explore salient factors affecting e-filing continuance usage intention. The practical implications of the findings for tax collection agencies are discussed.     

Social identity and trust in internet-based voting adoption

The growth of eGovernment applications has initiated profound re-engineering of numerous citizen-government interactions but has not yet provided significant impacts on internet-based voting (iVoting). This study examines the role of trust and the technology adoption model (TAM) in influencing citizen intentions to adopt iVoting, and whether a social identity perspective may play a role in this individual decision process. The study is based on the integrated trust and TAM model. TAM posits that people choose to adopt a new Information Technology (IT) because they perceive it to be useful and sometimes also because it is perceived as easy to use. Trust plays a central role in building that sense of perceived usefulness in cases where the IT is a conduit to the trusted party, as we propose for iVoting. In support of this social identity extension to the trust and TAM model, our results show that citizens' perceptions that they share the same values as the individuals affiliated with providing eGovernment (and internet-based voting) services are especially instrumental. The perception that the agency is made of “people like me” is associated with increased trust in the agency, which in turn is associated with increased levels of other factors that contribute to the intention to vote electronically over the internet. Implications for theory and practice are identified.     

Citizens' trust in government as a function of good governance and government agency's provision of quality information on social media during COVID-19

Evidence from literature reveals that good governance practices influence citizens' attitudes and behaviours towards the government. Therefore, grounded on the good governance theory, the current study aimed to empirically examine how good governance practices promote public trust with the underlying mechanism of perceived government response on COVID-19 (PGRC) and moderating role of government agency's provision of quality information on social media (GQS). The data was collected from 491 followers of the Facebook account, Instagram, and Twitter pages of a government news agency, i.e., Associated Press of Pakistan and were analyzed using measurement and structural model by employing SmartPls 3.3.0. The results revealed a direct and indirect association of good governance practices with the public's trust in government via PGRC as mediator. Likewise, results showed that GQS interacts with PGRC and augments public trust in government. This study tried to contribute to the body of knowledge while addressing the gap related to the dearth of literature regarding government use of ICT during the COVID-19 pandemic to harvest benefits from social media while communicating with citizens on a larger scale. Moreover, the current study offers valuable practical and strategical recommendations to agencies and policymakers.     

Public and private value in citizen participation in E-governance: Evidence from a government-sponsored green commuting platform

Citizen participation in E-governance is, essentially, a social exchange between individuals and their government through which the citizen creates public value as well as acquires private value. The direct effects of participation antecedents on participation outcomes have been fully examined, but few researchers have investigated the internal mechanism of citizen participation at the level of psychological value perception. The roles of perceived public and private value between the participation antecedents and outcomes remain unclear. Private value merits careful research in particular as the E-governance environment is being shaped by increasing privatization and continuous IT innovation. Based on the cognitive integration theory and the civic voluntarism model, this paper proposes a theoretical framework to examine the mediating roles of two values. We built a complete research model encompassing ten hypotheses centered on citizen e-participation in the context of green commuting governance. By analyzing survey data on a green commuting platform, we demonstrate the significant mediating effects of these two values and greater effect of private value acquisition on continuous e-participation intentions than public value creation. Our results have important research implications in regards to the roles of perceived values in participation, especially perceived private value.     

Effects of perceived online–offline integration and internet censorship on mobile government microblogging service continuance: A gratification perspective

The success of government social media relies on citizens' continual usage. Through the theoretical lens of the Uses & Gratifications theory, we develop a research model for mobile government microblogging services (GMS) continuance intention, in which citizens' perceived integration of online and offline social lives and internet censorship are incorporated. Based on data from 629 mobile GMS users in China, the results of the structural equation modeling analysis show that perceived online–offline integration has a significant and positive effect on the three dimensions of gratification: content gratification, social gratification, and process gratification, which jointly influence mobile GMS continuance. Citizens' perceived internet censorship negatively affects their mobile GMS continuance. These results might provide understanding about the unique aspects of government social media, especially in the context of internet censorship.     

Predicting mobile government service continuance: A two-stage structural equation modeling-artificial neural network approach

Retaining users of mobile government services (MGS) is critical to the success of mobile government. Drawing on Bagozzi's self-regulation framework, the current research investigates the predictors of MGS continuance by considering both perceived quality and perceived value. Unlike most e-government research that has utilized linear models, this study employed a two-stage structural equation modeling–artificial neural network approach that can identify non-linear and non-compensatory interactions. The current research first applied a structural equation model to examine the significant factors influencing MGS continuance, and then utilized a neural network model recheck the structural equation modeling findings and rank the importance of these factors. Data were obtained from 335 “one-stop-shop service platform” app users in China through an online survey platform. The research findings reveal that user satisfaction is the utmost influential determinant of their continuous-use intention regarding MGS, followed by user trust; moreover, perceived quality and perceived value strongly influence satisfaction and trust. However, perceived risk does not affect intention to continue use. We also discuss theoretical and practical implications for government agencies and service providers, for improving user continuance rates for MGS.     

Local e-government 2.0: Social media and corporate transparency in municipalities

Various authors have highlighted the potential contribution of the internet to enhance the interactivity, transparency, and openness of public sector entities and to promote new forms of accountability. The search for new styles of governance which promote higher levels of transparency and the engagement of citizens is viewed as a way of improving citizens' trust in governments. As the social media are becoming ubiquitous, both academics and practitioners need some initial and reliable background data about the deployment of this kind of technology at all levels. The aim of this work is to provide an overall view about the use of Web 2.0 and social media tools in EU local governments in order to determine whether local governments are using these technologies to increase transparency and e-participation, opening a real corporate dialog. In addition, the paper tries to identify which factors promote the level of development of these tools at local level. Our results show that most local governments are using Web 2.0 and social media tools to enhance transparency but, in general, the concept of corporate dialog and the use of Web 2.0 to promote e-participation are still in their infancy at the local level.     

Facebook as a Communication Tool for an Academic Library: East West University Library,Bangladesh Perspective

The primary objectives of this research article are to explore the concept of communication tools using Facebook, and to evaluate the performance of the East West University (EWU) Library Facebook page as a communication tool. The EWU Library Facebook page uses a variety of strategies and techniques to engage with its patrons. The author's intention is to examine this library Facebook page, which is explored using a case study method. This article also focuses on how Facebook facilitates collaborations between the library and the patron's community, as well as the implications for academic libraries in the future. This case study reviews the literature on the use of social networking while focusing on Facebook as a communication tool and engaging libraries in social networking. The article emphasizes the author's experience of working in an academic library to identify the main trends in providing services based on posting various topics through the Facebook page of the EWU Library, Bangladesh. The numerous issues in adapting Facebook as a communication tool and an exploration of the opportunity and drawbacks of the use of the Facebook application in academic libraries are also discussed.     

Citizens' continuous use of eGovernment services: The role of self-efficacy,outcome expectations and satisfaction

The continuous use of eGovernment services is a de facto for its prosperity and success. A generalised sense of citizens' self-efficacy, expectations, and satisfaction offer opportunities for governments to further retain needed engagements. This study examines the factors influencing citizens' continuance use of eGovernment services. Through the integration of Social Cognitive Theory, Expectation Confirmation Theory, DeLone and McLean IS success model, and E-S-QUAL, a survey of 471 citizens in the UK, engaging in online public services, found that prior experience, social influence, information quality, and service quality, personal outcome expectation, and satisfaction, are significant predictors of citizens' intention to use eGovernment, when they are regulated, through citizens' self-efficacy. The present study extends the roles of pre-adoption and post-adoption by offering a self-regulating process. Therefore, it demonstrates how critical it is for the government's leaders to understand the patterns of the long-term process for electronic systems continually.     

Understanding the rise of e-participation in non-democracies: Domestic and international factors

While it has often been suggested that information and communication technologies (ICTs) provide an important means of increasing citizen participation (which is at the core of democratic government), few commentators have expected non-democracies to create online environments in which citizens can take an active part in political processes. In recent years, however, some non-democracies have begun to outperform countries with long-standing democratic traditions in terms of e-participation development. According to the 2010 United Nations (UN) e-government survey, Bahrain outranks France, Kazakhstan beats Sweden and Malaysia ranks higher than Germany. This article sets out to understand the recent rise of e-participation initiatives in non-democracies. Drawing on comparative longitudinal data from the UN e-government surveys, we tested the assertion that international drivers of change are competing with the dominant focus on domestic factors, especially in the non-democratic world, and are influencing the patterns of reform. The empirical analysis demonstrated important differences between the drivers of change in democratic and non-democratic countries and found economic globalization to be the strongest predictor of e-participation initiatives in non-democratic countries. In conclusion, we argue that economic globalization alters the context of e-participation and necessitates a re-examination of many of its premises and tenets.     

Continuous usage of e-participation: The role of the sense of virtual community

Local governments around the world are increasingly implementing e-participation platforms to involve citizens in consultation and decision-making processes. E-participation platforms usually succeed and produce positive effects in the community when adopted in the long-term scenario. The adoption of those platforms is still a challenge for local governments. The understanding of the factors that influence the continuous intention to use e-participation over time is critical for the design of diffusion and promotion strategies that motivate the citizens to keep using e-participation. This article explores the drivers that predict the post-adoption of e-participation platforms from the perspective of the sense of virtual community theory, that is the degree of affective attachment to a given community mediated by information technology. Specifically, our research model evaluates the association between the sense of virtual community with use behaviour and the continuous intention to use e-participation. Structural equation modelling was used to evaluate the data collected from 370 citizens who experienced an e-participation platform hosted by a European capital city. We found out that the direct association between the sense of virtual community and use was significant. Even though the direct association between the sense of virtual community and the continuous intention was non-significant, the indirect association sense of virtual community to use to continuous intention was statistically significant. This finding may indicate that the use behaviour is triggered by the influence of other members of the community for a short period of time, but it does not persist to influence the continuous intention over time.     

Towards a balanced E-Participation Index: Integrating government and society perspectives

Since 2003, the United Nations has introduced the E-Participation Index (EPI), the first index to evaluate e-participation initiatives worldwide. This index has been subject to criticism for not representing the society side of e-participation initiatives. The EPI assesses e-participation initiatives on the government side only and neglects the society side, which includes all kinds of civil e-participation initiatives. In this work, the society side is included by incrementally extending the EPI with the Human Development Index and the Democracy Index. To identify the weights of the index, the best–worst method (BWM) is used while surveying 23 experts. The results show that political rights and civil liberties are viewed as the most important criteria with which to evaluate e-participation initiatives. Using this ranking, the Balanced EPI (BEPI) is created, giving weight to both the government and society sides. The new index concerns the willingness and empowerment levels of citizens so that the public can influence policy and political decision-making. Dedicated e-participation measures should be developed in further research.     

Political homophily on social network sites and users' poll skepticism

Although many studies have investigated citizens' attitudes toward polls and the political consequences, there have been no studies examining the effects of social network site (SNS) users' opinion environments on their poll skepticism. Based on prior studies on poll skepticism, we examine the relationship between perceived SNS opinion environments, poll skepticism, perceived concerns over the negative influence of the polls, and voting intention in an upcoming election. Using the survey data of the 2012 South Korean General Election, this study found that if the published polls are against respondents' political position, their homophilous SNS opinion environments promote poll skepticism, and augmented poll skepticism leads to concerns over the negative influence of the polls on other voters, which in turn increases voting intention.     

Social media as a platform in academic library marketing: A comparative study

Social media like Facebook have become popular tools for different organizations like libraries in marketing practice. To build relationships with library users, libraries hope social media can engage its user communities actively with their collections, services, and activities. This paper aims at evaluating the effectiveness of using social media as a platform in marketing through a questionnaire on the Facebook page of the University of Hong Kong Libraries (HKUL), comparing the perspectives of students and faculty members. Both the current situation of HKUL's Facebook page and the reasons affecting users' interest and participation in the page are evaluated, in order to suggest better strategies for the library to deal with the needs of library users in the future. Other university libraries can also gain new insights from the study.This research has the following key findings: 1. The marketing practices of HKUL's Facebook page generally did not receive adequate attention and reactions from users; 2. Students were more engaged than faculty members in HKUL's Facebook page, as students use more varieties of library services than faculty members; 3. User needs, social media content, and interactions generally affected user acceptance of the library's Facebook marketing.     

What type of algorithm is perceived as fairer and more acceptable? A comparative analysis of rule-driven versus data-driven algorithmic decision-making in public affairs

Various types of algorithms are being increasingly used to support public decision-making, yet we do not know how these different algorithm types affect citizens' attitudes and behaviors in specific public affairs. Drawing on public value theory, this study uses a survey experiment to compare the effects of rule-driven versus data-driven algorithmic decision-making (ADM) on citizens' perceived fairness and acceptance. This study also examines the moderating role of familiarity with public affairs and the mediating role of perceived fairness on the relationship. The findings show that rule-driven ADM is generally perceived as fairer and more acceptable than data-driven ADM. Low familiarity with public affairs strengthens citizens' perceived fairness and acceptance of rule-driven ADM more than data-driven ADM, and citizens' perceived fairness plays a significant mediating role in the effect of rule-driven ADM on citizens' acceptance behaviors. These findings further imply that citizens' perceived fairness and acceptance of ADM is strongly shaped by how they perceive familiarity of the decision-making context. In high-familiarity AI application scenarios, the realization of public values may ultimately not be what matters for ADM acceptance among citizens.     

Facebook Friend Request: Applying the Theory of Reasoned Action to Student-Teacher Relationships on Facebook

The purpose of this study was to investigate factors that influence professors’ and students’ intentions to add each other as friends on Facebook. Participants were 160 professors and 249 students from different universities in the United States. Consistent with theory of reasoned action, intention was the strongest predictor of them adding each other as Facebook friends. However, among faculty members, a personal attitude was the most significant predictor of the intention to add students as friends. For students, subjective norm was the most significant predictor of the intention to friend professors.