E-Government service delivery by a local government agency: the case of E-Licensing

Abstract

The advancement in technologies has changed the way services are delivered (Dabholkar, 2000). The licensing department of a local authority in Penang, Malaysia is the major department involved in the processing and issuance of various types of licenses. The traditional method of processing of licenses manually has been a subject of criticism by license applicants and the public due to the delay in processing and the inefficient feedback mechanism. Over a period of two years, the licensing department has been working closely with the system designers by providing input on the construction of the E-Licensing system. All the time spent and the investment would go to waste if the employees do not intend to use the system. This study is focused on factors affecting intention to use of technology enabled service delivery (E-Licensing) by employees. The research model by Moore and Benbasat (1991) was adapted and used in this study. Six hypotheses were formulated to test the relationship proposed. The data collected from a sample of 92 respondents was used in the analysis of the hypothesis. The findings from this study show that (i) perceived usefulness/relative advantage is positively related to intention to use E-Licensing. (ii) Perceived ease of use and result demonstrability is positively related to intention to use E-Licensing. (iii) Visibility/observability is positively related to intention to use E-Licensing. This study will enable the licensing department to formulate, design and introduce measures to encourage usage of E-Licensing.