Measuring the Digital Divide in the Field of e-Government

Abstract

This paper considers a topic of monitoring and evaluation of e-Government, focusing on a phenomenon known as digital divide that may exist in this field. Measuring a level of digital divide is especially important for decision makers, who are in a position to create or correct strategies for synchronized development and use of e-Government services, with respect to different entities like countries, populations, economies or companies. We investigate the size of digital divide in the context of applying different e-Government modules within monitored entities, divided into relevant groups. After defining one model for measuring different types of digital divide in e-Government usage, the model is applied on the case of Serbia, calculating sub-indices and the compound e-Government polarization index - EGPI. The model is a flexible and opened system that allows easy changes of its basic input parameters. This means that its semantic does not change when the set of sub-indices, the set of indicators for its quantitative expression and/or a division of objects into groups within a certain type of digital divide are changed. At the same time, all calculations are performed according to the same rules defined by the model. The paper contains both the theoretical part, and an empirical quantitative research. The results of this research elaborate on the actual level of polarization in acceptance of e-Government modules within enterprises in Serbia. Also, these results emphasize risk groups of enterprises that should receive special attention in the future, in order to minimize digital divide in usage of e-Government.