Availability and adoption of m-government services in South Africa

Abstract

The adoption and penetration of mobile phones have been on the rise in South Africa with the increased cellular network coverage being a key driver to this growth. This growth in mobile phone usage has also fast tracked the mobile phones usability in a number of areas such as education, health and payments, yet its adoption for m-Government has not experienced the same level of growth. Although m-Government is a prospect for South Africa, current e-Government infrastructure needs to improve in order to realize the possibilities and potential it offers. In this paper the availability of m-Government services and the barriers to adoption were investigated. Surveys were used to ascertain how citizens interact and access government services and information via their mobile phones. The paper concludes with suggestions for easier adoption and insights into citizens’ preferences for accessing m-Government services.