The Digital Divide in Citizen-Initiated Government Contacts: A GIS Approach

Abstract

As the role of information and communications technologies (ICTs) grows, governments have seen the Geoweb and Web 2.0 as an opportunity to increase citizen involvement through e-government which provides citizens with the ability to record and share information. 311 services represent citizens' most direct contact with local governments in the form of volunteered geographic information (VGI) empowering citizens with the means of solving community issues. Past studies have examined VGI and e-government use finding patterns of a digital divide with survey data; yet, further research which allows for the visualization of these patterns using citizen-generated data is needed to understand the link between users and the content they create. This paper seeks to explore the relationship between sociodemographic status and 311 service request frequency in three cities within the United States using geographic information systems (GIS) and regression analysis. Results suggest the potential existence of a digital divide and that the demographic profile of a city plays a role in participation in e-government.

Characterizing New Channels of Communication: A Case Study of Municipal 311 Requests in Edmonton, Canada

“…This analysis makes a major assumption in that requests are made by individuals who are living in the same place as where the request was made. Similar research, such as that by Cavallo (2014) does not expressly consider this limitation imposed by the size of the statistical areas and the mobile nature of requests. In this study, there are several interesting connections between sociodemographic characteristics and the channel of 311 service request.…”

“…Similarly, Bé-langer and Carter (2009) carried out a survey to explore the relationships between demographic characteristics and the use of e-government services; the results show that income, education level, age and frequency of Internet use affect the use of egovernment services. Cavallo et al (2014) conducted a case study to determine the relationships between sociodemographic status and 311 service request frequency by developing a linear regression model, and their results indicate that demographic profile plays an important role in e-government participation.…”

“…Johnson and Sieber (2013) also argue that VGI is valuable to government in providing an opportunity for citizens to collaborate on achieving social, economic, and environmental goals. Cavallo et al (2014) suggest that the modern 311 services that provide multiple channels for citizens to report problems or complaints can be regarded as a method of direct connection with local governments, and provide citizens with the appropriate means of making contributions to community issues.…”

“…Mirroring a previous study of municipal 311 services by Cavallo et al (2014), ordinary least squares (OLS) regression is used to explore the relationships between demographic characteristics and the number of 311 service requests from each channel. OLS is a technique used to model a single dependent variable with single or multiple explanatory variables (Hutcheson, 2011).…”

“…Are there geographic concentrations of 311 reports and do these differ by channel? And lastly, building on work done by Cavallo, Lynch and Scull (2014), are there demographic relationships with 311 channel use, highlighting existing digital divides? To answer these questions, this paper presents a case study of citizen contributions made using a 311 service in the City of Edmonton, Canada.…”