How To Increase Public E-Services Usage In Governments - A Case Study Of The German Federal Employment Agency

E-services have been gaining increasing importance in the public sector over recent years. But even though e-services help governments in many ways – for example by increasing agency efficiency or enabling citizens to participate in democratic processes – citizen e-services usage rates still lag behind expectations in many countries to date. This article analyzes the reasons why citizens do not use e-government services more extensive and investigates how governments could increase usage. In a case study with the German Federal Employment Agency, we find that public institutions and their employees underestimate the willingness among citizens to use e-services, that citizens lack information about e-services, and that usability problems prevent citizens to use e-services more extensive. Furthermore, we evaluate three actions that have to be addressed to increase e-services usage among citizens.