Towards User Acceptance of Biometric Technology in E-Government: A Survey Study in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The paper discussed an exploratory study of government employees' perceptions of the introduction of biometric authentication at the workplace in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. We suggest that studying the factors affecting employees' acceptance of new technology will help ease the adoption of biometric technology in other e-government applications. A combination of survey and interviews was used to collect the required data. Interviews were conducted with managers and questionnaires were given to employees from two different government organisations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to investigate the employees' perceptions of using biometrics. The results of this study indicate a significant digital and cultural gap between the technological awareness of employees and the preferred authentication solutions promoted by management. A lack of trust in technology, its potential for misuse and management motives reflect the managers' need to consider their responsibilities for narrowing these gaps. It was apparent that overcoming employees' resistance is an essential issue facing biometric implementation. Based on the research we recommend that an awareness and orientation process about biometrics should take place before the technology is introduced into the organisation.