eParticipation Provision and Demand Analysis of a Regional Government: Insights from Metro City

The purpose of this study is to investigate the provision and demand of eParticipation of a local government, conducted in Metro City, Indonesia. Using the Citizens Web Empowerment Index (CWEI), an assessment of 60 Metro City government websites was conducted to measure eParticipation's provision. Furthermore, a survey involving 397 respondents from the Metro City residents was conducted to evaluate the demand of eParticipation. The results showed that eParticipation level provided by Metro city is low, having CWEI score of 13.42 percent. This research also found that citizens' needs for eParticipation were quite high, with specific participative purposes such as information disclosure, media for aspirations and complaints, online surveys / polls, online communication and consultation with the mayor, and digital voting. Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) is utilized to determine citizen's intention to use eParticipation services, which reveal that all hypotheses were accepted. Finally, recommendations were made to improve eParticipation services with the aim of increased citizen empowerment in government.