Implementing Free Wi-Fi in Public Parks

Abstract

This article examines the adoption of free wireless Internet parks (iPark) by Qatari citizens as a means of accessing electronic services from public parks. The Qatari government has launched the free wireless Internet parks concept under their national electronic government (e-government) initiative with a view to providing free Internet access for all citizens whilst enjoying the outdoors. By offering free wireless internet access, the Qatari government hopes to increase the accessibility of e-government services and encourage their citizens to actively participate in the global information society with a view to bridging the digital divide. The adoption and diffusion of iPark services will depend on user acceptance and the availability of wireless technology. This article examines an extended technology acceptance model (TAM) that proposes individual differences and technology complexity in order to determine perceived usefulness and perceived ease of the iPark initiative by using a survey-based study. The article provides a discussion on the key findings, research implications, limitations, and future directions for the iPark initiative in Qatar.

The influence of utilising Facebook on e-government adoption

“…Performance expectancy included other factors in technology acceptance including perceived usefulness, outcome expectation and relative advantage. Previous research confirmed the influence of this construct as one of the strongest predictor of technology acceptance (Louho et al, 2006;Al-Shafi and Weerakkody, 2009).…”

A meta-analysis of existing research on citizen adoption of e-government

“…However, promising predictors with significant meta-analytic outcomes (e.g., relative advantage on attitude with relatively strong zero-order correlations effect-sizes) are more likely to qualify as the best predictors, and can be considered for further analysis in the egovernment adoption research. So far as the sample sizes of the studies are considered, six studies (Al-Shafi and Weerakkody, 2009;Dwivedi et al, 2007b;Lau and Kwok, 2007;Reddick, 2006;Reddick, 2008;Seyal and Pijpers, 2004) used a relatively small sample size of less than or equal to 100. It has been visualized that smaller samples may not be the right representatives of their outcomes and may be a cause of concern for their individual effects.…”

Drivers of mobile payment acceptance: The impact of network externalities

“…Venkatesh et al (2003) defined the term as the degree to which the user thinks using a particular technology will improve the overall performance. Previous research stressed this construct as one of the strongest predictors of technology acceptance (Louho et al 2006;Al-Shafi and Weerakkody 2009;Abu-Shanab et al 2010;Zhou 2013b).…”