Exploring Maltese Entrepreneurs’ Perceptions of the Benefits of E-government

The Maltese government has instigated its vision of an ‘e’ infrastructure to support the islands’ Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) in their efforts to meet the challenges of the new unbounded digital economy. This paper takes an early look at the perception of ‘e’ potentials amongst Maltese entrepreneurs. Although the findings depicted a generally positive attitude towards the concept of e-government, the actual evidence shows a low level of Internet penetration on the islands. The implication for the Maltese government is that availability and accessibility alone are not sufficient to foster e-government use. It needs to reduce this resistance to change by improving the Maltese society’s awareness and disposition towards the new technologies.