You Got E-Government?' A Quantitative Analysis of Social In- and Exclusiveness of Electronic Public Service Delivery

Digital divide is, despite all efforts in research and practice, a matter of fact in most societies. In search for specific strategies to promote digital inclusion, one has to ask for what are the specific reasons and factors behind the problem. Here, the field of eGovernment (Electronic Government) features several particular characteristics, including high privacy and security demands or high complexity of administrative processes, which might hinder the societal inclusiveness of such electronic public service delivery. Addressing the question of what could be possible explanations for lacking inclusiveness in eGovernment, we conduct a quantitative analysis of statistical data on eGovernment usage in Europe, taking into account specific digital divide groups, such as senior citizens, people with low education or people without employment. In order to contextualise our findings, we discuss the case of inclusiveness of eGovernment in Germany. We contrast eGovernment usage (on an informational and transactional level) with eCommerce and internet usage. Here, specific inclusion gaps in eGovernment and their underlying issues are analysed and specific recommendations given.