Abstract

Electronic document management systems are used in many government agencies to streamline administrative operations (Sambetbayeva et al. 2022). Frequently, electronic documents or e-documents are considered as an integral part of digital or electronic government (e-government). During the times of COVID-19, in accelerated digitalization, a switch from analog to digital form, the use of various forms of e-documents was promoted. Willingness to use e-government services and e-documents, among other factors, depends on trust. As observed by Carter and Belanger (2005, page 9), clients “must have confidence in both the government and the enabling technologies.” In other words, increased trust means increased use of e-documents. However, there are reports about a possible lack of trust in e-documents. For example, a study conducted in Poland reported that “electronic documents are viewed very distrustfully, and only the printouts of electronic documents are taken seriously by the citizens and the residents" (Roztocki et al. 2021, page 15). Surprisingly, there are hardly any empirical studies examining this issue. Therefore, the aim of this study is to close this gap by empirically investigating the trust in e-documents. The main research question is: “What is the perceived impact of COVID-19 on clients’ trust in e-documents?” The methodology of this study is accomplished by a survey conducted among 130 clients in Poland. All these clients use e-services, and they were asked about their opinion concerning e-documents. The age of the respondents ranges from 18 to above 70 with the largest proportion in the 30-39 age group (38%). Female respondents account for 72 percent while 28 percent are male. The results of this study indicate that the clients have rather limited trust in e-documents. Based on experience during COVID-19, some of the clients claim that having documents in paper form has proven beneficial for them. Also, some clients disagree with the view that there is no need to have any documents in paper form. The contribution of this study, which we consider as a pilot study, is to prepare a foundation for further investigations on this topic. Therefore, the main beneficiaries are other scholars interested in this topic but also e-government administrators who intend to promote the use of e-documents. This study makes a substantial societal impact as it contributes to the topic of digital transformation to e-documents and possibly for further improvements in efficiency and effectiveness of public sector operations.

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