Technology Readiness and Technology Acceptance in UAE E-Government Services: An Integrated TRI–TAM Perspective

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between Technology Readiness Index (TRI) constructs and Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) constructs in the context of UAE e-government services. Specifically, the study investigated how optimism, innovativeness, insecurity, and discomfort were associated with perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness. A quantitative research approach was adopted, and data were collected from adult users of UAE e-government services, including Emirati citizens and expatriate residents. After data screening, 419 valid responses were used for analysis. The data were analysed using SPSS through ranking analysis based on mean and standard deviation values, followed by Pearson correlation analysis. The ranking results showed that innovativeness recorded the highest mean score among the TRI constructs, while perceived ease of use ranked slightly higher than perceived usefulness among the TAM constructs. The correlation results indicated that all TRI constructs were significantly associated with both TAM constructs at the 0.01 significance level. Optimism and innovativeness were positively related to perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness, indicating that users with stronger readiness toward technology were more likely to perceive UAE e-government services as easy to use and useful. Insecurity and discomfort also showed significant relationships with TAM constructs, although their interpretation required consideration of item wording and coding. Overall, the findings supported the integration of TRI and TAM in explaining user acceptance of UAE e-government services. The study concluded that users’ technology readiness played an important role in shaping acceptance beliefs toward digital government platforms in the UAE.