Citizen Attitudes Towards E-Government Services: Comparison of Northern and Southern Nicosia Municipalities

Literature Review: E-Government Development In Small Island States

Although e-government studies is an ever-expanding multi-disciplinary area of research, the topic of e-government development in small island states received very limited attention. With very few exceptions, such as Singapore (e.g. Pan, Tan, & Lim, 2006), one could find very limited numbers of studies on the subject (Nielsen, 2016, p. 1; Cullen & Hassall, 2017, p. 394).

Why is this subject important? A main question that comes to mind is: are small island states a fundamentally different unit and lens for analysis, or does the evolution/adoption of e-government in these states simply mirror that occurring elsewhere and lack of resources just makes them slower. The thesis of this study is that in many ways it is the former. Therefore, simply adapting models/methods/approaches from bigger and more advanced countries may not be enough to understand and explain of the cases of e-government development in small island states.

Small island states are categorically different, and much can be learned about e-government through research on them (Yildiz & Sagsan, 2020). First of all, many small island states are isolated in many degrees, forms and shapes from the mainland. Such isolation creates specific challenges for e-government development, such as loss of human capital to the bigger mainland countries, which can offer better opportunities for these islanders, who are often overqualified in their small island homes (Cullen & Hassall, 2017, p. 392). Secondly, the small scale of small island states enables them to serve as test beds for the implementation of new ideas and technologies. For example, Huawei used Faroe Islands as a testing ground for the rolling out of a new generation of 4G/LTE network in 2014 (Nielsen, 2016, p. 3).