Manifestations of e-government usage in post-communist European countries

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the propensity to use e-government services in postcommunist countries in the European Union. Design/methodology/approach - A survey was conducted among 7,984 respondents from the states of Bulgaria, Romania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. The analysis focused on the following manifestations of e-administration usage in these countries: viewing websites run by public administration bodies, making contact with public administrations via e-mail, downloading the forms necessary to obtain a public service, sending completed electronic forms to appropriate offices, and contacting politicians, activists, or offices electronically to discuss matters important for a region or the whole state. Findings - The results of the analysis presented in this paper show that there is a statistically significant relationship between the state of the respondent's residence and the propensity to use particular forms of e-government. Practical implications - Decision makers should create incentives to popularize electronic signatures, which are necessary to fully settle a matter in public offices via the internet. They could use financial assistance offered by the European Union to implement this technology. Moreover, they should award bonuses to private persons or entrepreneurs who use Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in their contact with the state administration, for example, by way of charging less for issuing a driving license, building permits, or other documents necessary to apply for a building permit. The use of ICT in the client-administration relationship would reduce corruption levels by limiting direct contact and allow for reconstruction of all of the digital records to apply for a given permit, document, etc. Originality/value - With the rapid growth of internet (and e-commerce) worldwide, the public administration sector has many opportunities, especially in a developing democracy. The paper is unique because it shows data collected from almost 8,000 respondents and it presents a comparison of the use of e-government among citizens of nine European Union member states.