SME's Readiness for e-Government Services: The Case of Egypt

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Abdelghaffar, Hany | Elmessiry, Ingy

Affiliations: Information Systems Department, Faculty of Management Technology, German University in Cairo, Egypt. E-mails: hany.ismail@guc.edu.eg; ingy.elmessiry@guc.edu.eg

Abstract: Many developing countries have introduced e-Government projects to facilitate government services for business. However, due to the lack of appropriate ICT infrastructure and digital illiteracy among SMEs, e-Government projects are abundant. This is an empirical research that closely investigates the e-readiness of SMEs to adopt e-Government services. A conceptual model is proposed based on reviewing the all e-readiness assessments and relevant adoption literature. The Egyptian e-Government project is selected as an example of e-Government services offered for SMEs in developing countries. Surveying SMEs in Egypt confirmed the importance of the e-readiness factors as the first step in adoption. However, being e-ready is not enough for adoption. Other factors including benefits of using e-Government services should be in place.

Keywords: SMEs, adoption, e-Government, developing countries, Egypt

DOI: 10.3233/GOV-2012-0319

Journal: Journal of E-Governance, vol. 35, no. 4, pp. 186-194, 2012