20. Diffusion and Evaluation of E-Government Systems: A Field Study in China

As IT/IS application in governmental organizations gains more and more attention from both academics and practitioners in China, the diffusion of e-government systems has become one of the central research issues in this fast growing economy. In this paper, we follow a conceptual model consisting of two dimensions to evaluate the IT/IS application status of Chinese governments. With a field study conducted in a local government in Beijing, the capital of China, we utilize the model to determine the e-government development level in this administrative district. Furthermore, a behavioral research model for analyzing the factors influencing e-government systems evaluation in the Chinese cultural context is proposed based on classical IT/IS adoption theories. In the light of survey data, the relationships between ease of use, usefulness, fitness, and user evaluation towards e-government systems are validated, providing us with more in-depth understanding about the characteristics and process of e-government diffusion in such Chinese organizations