Balancing Digital-By-Default with Inclusion: A Study of the Factors Influencing E-Inclusion in the UK

Abstract

Digital inclusion research has been critically important in drawing an understanding of how policies, society, organisations, and information technologies can all come together within a national environment that aspires to be a digital nation. This research aims to examine the factors influencing e-Inclusion in the UK within a digital-by-default policy for government services. This study is pursued through combining the Decomposed Theory of Planned Behaviour (DTPB) with Use and Gratification Theory (U&G) and conducting a self-administered survey targeting 510 Internet users to study the level of citizens engagement with e-government services in the UK. By incorporating gratification, trust, risk and external factors (i.e. self-efficacy, accessibility, availability, affordability) within DTPB, the proposed model of e-Inclusion used in the paper demonstrates a considerable explanatory and predictive power and offers a frame of reference to study the acceptance and usage of e-government within a national context where nearly all government transactions are digital-by-default. The findings revealed six dimensions as key inhibitors for e-Inclusion, namely: demographic, economic, social, cultural, political, and infrastructural.