E-services and the digital divide: The role of tertiary education in improving public engagement and trust in e-delivery of services

Gordon, Neil Andrew

Abstract

This chapter considers aspects relating to the role of tertiary (i.e. higher) education in improving the engagement of the public with government provided E-services. Some of the issues considered include those of tackling the digital divide - which can exist because of technical issues in provision of the actual infrastructure, financial issues limiting access to available provision and educational barriers - as well as how to develop trust in online technologies. The challenges of the networked society include a number that can be best addressed through education. These include: 1) Engagement with new technologies and new paradigms; 2) Trust in a virtual environment; 3) Understanding of processes and engagement with online services;4) Mapping of existing personal paradigms to the virtual world. Education itself faces challenges in the networked world. Tertiary education in particular is potentially vulnerable to the changes that the modern networked world brings; however, it can also gain through some of the new opportunities. Of particular note is the potential to unlock students' research skills and enable true inquiry by students within their studies - skills which should prepare them as active participants in the knowledge rich and information easy society within which they will be developing. © 2011, IGI Global.

Citation

Gordon, N. A. (2010). E-services and the digital divide: The role of tertiary education in improving public engagement and trust in e-delivery of services. Handbook of Research on E-Services in the Public Sector: E-Government Strategies and Advancements (244-250). Information Science Reference. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-61520-789-3.ch019

• Acceptance Date: Jan 1, 2011
• Publication Date: Dec 1, 2010
• Pages: 244-250
• Book Title: Handbook of Research on E-Services in the Public Sector: E-Government Strategies and Advancements
• ISBN: 9781615207893; 9781615207909
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-61520-789-3.ch019
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/405471