E-Services for Citizens: The Dutch Usage Case

In most countries, the maturity of eService delivery is measured by the supply of electronic service delivery. However, in many countries there is a gap between the supply and demand of eServices. We studied the actual use of eServices and the potential use of eServices in the Netherlands. We found a gap between the actual and potential use of eServices. Main explanations for this gap are the lack of knowledge about the availability of eServices, the media use characteristics and the social characteristics of the (non)users. Conclusions of our study are that the potential usage is high and second, simply putting services online is not enough. People have to get to know the services and need the skills to use them. Implications for future research are that we need a deeper understanding of factors that underlie the use of eServices, since supply alone will not lead to use of eServices.