The Internet Users’ Opinions on Public E-Services: Empirical Analysis

Abstract

Public services are one of the most dynamically developing areas of the state's functioning, which is confirmed by the systematically increasing number of e-services and their users in individual countries. For more than 25 years, Poland has been gradually employing ICT in public administration services. The first honest public discussion on e-government started in 1994 after democratic transformation and accession to the European Union. However, the actual development of e-government in Poland began in 2005–2006. In Poland, the most significant number of people using e-government services was recorded in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic. Due to epidemic restrictions, citizens could deal with more official matters via the Internet. The main research problem in this article is related to Poles' declarations, opinions on the accessibility and use of public e-services offered, and their attitudes towards the availability and greater offer of e-services. The authors aimed to verify the hypothesis, assuming that Poles' declarations and opinions on electronic public services correlate with their time spent on the Internet each week. The issue has been presented in the form of an analysis of empirical data regarding Poles' experience and opinions on electronic administration tools (in the context of Internet usage) and statistical data regarding e-government development in Poland.