V L V Kameswari
email: vlvkameswari@yahoo.co.in

G B Pant

INFORMATION AS "COMMONS": APPLYING DESIGN PRINCIPLES TO ICTD PROJECTS

Keywords: Information commons, Design principles, ICT projects

Information is considered as a prerequisite for development in today's world. This belief has led to several measures to make information freely available to the citizens. Use of ICTs for development is a step in that direction, as they are expected to make communication more democratic and easy, leading to developmental outcomes. It is estimated that 60% of all ICT projects in Asia are located in India. Many playersnational and state governments, private business organizations and civil society groups are engaged in their implementation. Despite huge investments, studies indicate that the developmental use of such projects is very low. ICTs for development projects have been studied using diverse tools and theories. Failure has been attributed to several factors including various types of barriers, faulty institutions, and technology related issues. This paper places analysis on ICTD projects within the context of CPR (Common Pool Resources) studies. In recent years, the definition of CPR has been expanded to include information as "new commons" and robust institutions are deemed essential for survival of all CPRs. In this paper, ICT based development projects have been interpreted as CPR institutions and CPR design principles have been used to explain the functioning of two ICTD projects. Both these studies were carried out in the state of Uttarakahnd, India and analysis is confined to use of agricultural information by the farming community.

INTRODUCTION

Information is posited as the prime mover of development in today's world. Hence, terms like knowledge society, knowledge economy, information movement, etc are in wide currency. There is a growing conviction that the future growth of nations will be limited less by financial/ capital resources in the years to come. It is oft repeated statement that countries will fail in their quest for development due to their inability to produce, process and use information. This belief is underlined by the growing number of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) projects, especially in the developing world. According to [START_REF] Yunus | Foreword[END_REF], ICT is transforming the world into a distanceless, borderless world of instantaneous communication and access to ICTs can change the lives of poor people. The mushrooming number of ICT based development projects in India can be seen as a testimony to this view.

According to the World Resources Institute, India accounts for 60% of the ICT projects in Asia. The idea behind most of these initiatives is to democratise information and make it more easily available to the citizens and a hope that access to information will have developmental outcomes. However, studies on the impact of such projects indicate low usage for development purpose (Kiri and Menon, 2006;Veeraraghavan et al, 2006;Toyoma, 2010).

ICTs for development projects are institutions developed for governing the use of information, which is a Common Pool Resource (CPR). This paper analyzes two ICTD projects (Janadhar and IFFCO Airtel Green Card) using CPR design principles put forth by [START_REF] Ostrom | Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action[END_REF]. Low usage by the intended users (farmers in these cases) has been traced to absence of most of the design principles deemed essential for the survival of long enduring CPR institutions. The scope of both the studies was limited to use of agricultural information by the farming community through these projects.

The study on Janadhar project was taken up to develop a profile of users of "Rural Knowledge Centres" and their perception about these Centres vis-à-vis traditional extension system [START_REF] Barala | A Study of Rural Knowledge Centers in Nainital District of Uttaranchal[END_REF]. On the other hand, the study on IFFCO Airtel Green Card was designed to understand the factors affecting use of mobile phones by farmers for seeking agricultural information and their relationship with the socioeconomic status of the respondents. In both cases, in-depth interview schedules were used for data collection. Sample size comprised of 152 farmers in the first study and 277 (out of which only 70 were primarily engaged in agriculture) in the second instance. In the case of IFFCO Airtel Green Card study, respondents were scattered over a large geographical area. Hence, interview schedule was administered through telephonic as well as face to face interviews. Socio-economic status of the farmers and subsequent classification into low, medium and high categories in this study was done using standardised scale developed for rural population in India (r = 0.93). The scale comprises of nine items. After an in depth review of literature and consultation with experts, five factors; viz; ease of use, message comprehension, usefulness of information, trustworthiness and cost were selected for the study. The effect of these factors on the use of mobile phone by the farmers and their relationship with the socio-economic status of the users was analyzed using 2-test at 5% level of significance [START_REF] Sahota | Use of Mobile Phones in Agricultural Extension: A Study in Uttarakhand[END_REF].

Rest of this paper is divided into six sections. Section one elaborates the concept of Common Pool Resources and evolution of the term to include information as "commons". Second section discusses the characteristics of institutions that govern long enduring CPRs. Section three briefly describes the ICTD projects analysed in this paper and section four applies CPR design principles to these projects. Fifth section briefly discusses ways of incorporating CPR design principles in ICTD projects and concluding remarks constitute the last section of the paper.

Common property resources and the "new commons".

The term Common Pool Resource (CPR) has been used with diverse connotations to represent a wide variety of resources by scholars from various disciplines. While most of the work on common pool resources has been attributed to economists, CPR literature is replete with contributions from historians, political scientists, anthropologists, sociologists, ecologist and others. At an elementary level, Common Pool Resources (CPR) or simply "commons" are resources that are shared by a group of people and are subject to social dilemmas. However, much of traditional CPR studies use two biophysical attributes: non excludability and non rivalrous consumption to delineate CPRs from other types of goods. As per this classification, in case of CPRs, it is difficult to develop institutional or physical means to exclude beneficiaries or users and consumption of the resource by one person limits or subtracts from the quantity available to others. Hence, the term is commonly defined as "a natural or man-made resource from which it is difficult to exclude or limit users once the resource is provided by nature or produced by humans" [START_REF] Ostrom | Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action[END_REF]. The "commons", however, are different from public and private goods while sharing some of their characteristics. Like public goods, they can be used by a number of people. But, their use by an individual who appropriates a portion of the resource makes it unavailable to others (Oakerson, 1990). De Moore (2011), however, argues that two more characteristics which were inherent to historical "commons"; viz; institutionalisation and self governance, need to be included while defining a Common Pool Resource. Though the term itself is often confused with a type of property right, [START_REF] Ostrom | Neither market nor state: Governance of Common Property Resources in Twenty First Century[END_REF] succinctly points out that CPRs can be owned by national, regional or local governments, communities, individuals or may even be used as an open access resource. In other words, a common pool resource may not always be governed through a common property regime.

According to [START_REF] Hess | Is There Anything New Under the Sun? A Discussion and Survey of Studies on New Commons and the Internet[END_REF] most of the initial literature on CPRs was concerned with the use and governance of natural resources and included such broad categories as agriculture, fisheries, grazing and forest land, water bodies, wild life, etc. In an in-depth analysis of CPR literature, the author notes that the scope was widened towards early 1990s to include technology driven human made resources. Non traditional CPR studies included analysis of apartments, streets, highways, parking places, etc. which were grouped as "new commons". The term was soon expanded to include "global commons" such as radio spectrum, atmosphere, high seas, polar regions, etc. which have "remained unclaimed due to lack of technology for extracting their value and for establishing and sustaining property rights".

Information is a fuzzy term and has been used in several ways. One way of reducing this confusion is by using the distinction between data-informationknowledge. Data is viewed as information in raw form, information is defined as organized data in a context, and knowledge as the assimilation of the information and understanding of how to use it [START_REF] Machlup | The Economics of Information: A New Classification[END_REF]. While there is a definite distinction between information and knowledge, for the purpose of this paper the terms have been used interchangeably.

A resource is a good that can be transformed to produce a benefit which fulfils a need or want. It has utility, limited availability and faces depletion. People use information as a resource. They covet it, collect it and try to deny access to other using rules or technology. Massive amount of shared information made possible due to digital technologies (especially internet) coupled with infusion of scholarly works from other disciplines has given rise to studies that place information in the realm of "new commons". Broadly speaking, these studies examine both physical facilities (eg; digital libraries) and digital information (eg. open access journals) as "commons". The notion that information in the present age can be treated as "commons" and analysed as such is a contested issue. Hofmolk (2010) argues that "internet goods do not fall within the common pool category of goods". Such reservation in categorising information as "commons" is understandable in light of the key characteristics used to identity CPRs.

Prior to the digital age and advent of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), information was either a private good (due to limited individual ownership of scholarly works) or a club good (available in libraries, etc. whose membership was limited to some extent). Some may argue that opening of public libraries and other venues of storing scholarly works democratised information and turned it into a public good. However, conditions for access to such facilities and their limited number did not entail unlimited access and sharing of information, a key feature of public good. While it is difficult to exclude other users in case of information available through digital technologies (anyone with a computer and internet connection can access a wide range of information free of cost), information as "commons" does not meet the other key characteristic of CPRs i.e subtractability. As pointed out earlier, in case of traditional CPRs, use of a resource unit by one person limits or makes it unavailable to others. But, information as such is not divisible into subtractable resource units. In other words, access or use of information by one person does not make it unavailable to others. In fact, it may just be the opposite in some cases, where greater use leads to more value (eg; number of citations of a scholarly article). Information, therefore, has the attribute of non excludability but not subtractability. However, in rare cases, issues related to network congestion, limited number of terminals, band width restrictions, etc. may make information "commons" both excludable and subtractable.

With CPR literature gaining maturity and depth, it was realised that the distinction between various goods based on excludability and non rivalrous consumption is not as clear cut as it may seem in the first instance. Goods which were previously thought of or placed under one category may shift due to change in environment (e.g. air), technology (e.g radio spectrum) or legal measures (high seas). Hence, it is more useful to see both the key attributes of CPRs as a continuum rather than as dichotomous categories and some goods may fall and/ or shift in between the two extremes (De Moore, 2011).

Nevertheless, the general consensus is that information in the digital age is a Common Pool Resource, for which exclusion of beneficiaries is difficult, costly, or technically infeasible, and in which exploitation by one user may limit availability of the resource or reduces its value to others to some extent. Information is also vulnerable to classic CPR dilemmas like free-riding: either through overuse (dumping of irrelevant and redundant information, mingling of unreliable and high quality information making it difficult for the users to put it to use) or as a result of inadequate investment and maintenance necessary to sustain and enhance the physical facility [START_REF] Bernbom | Analyzing the Internet as a Common Pool Resource: The Problem of Network Congestion[END_REF].

In CPR literature, the term "information" commons is used synonymously with or confused with "knowledge" and "internet" commons. This confusion has been addressed in several ways. [START_REF] Bernbom | Analyzing the Internet as a Common Pool Resource: The Problem of Network Congestion[END_REF] labels internet as a global collection of multiple, interrelated resource facilities and contends that each one may be analyzed as a Common Pool Resource (CPR). Internet is viewed as an amalgam of three types of commons; viz; network commons (physical network infrastructure), information commons (vast and distributed collection of information resources that is available through use of physical infrastructure), and social commons (global communications forum). Internet commons has also been analysed as a composite good with three distinct layers; viz; physical (mainly comprising of equipment), logical (underlying code), and content (the message) [START_REF] Benkler | Coase's Penguin, or Linux and the nature of the firm[END_REF].

Common Pool Resource studies (especially those concerned with composite/multiple CPRs) differentiate between resource system and resource units. A resource system holds the resource unit and is usually not owned by an individual. On the other hand, resource units are individual transferable goods that can be put to use/ exploited by each user. Hess and Ostrom (2001) note that while trying to extend the evolving theory of common-pool resources to "new commons", especially information and the intellectual public domain, this distinction can be modified into a three-way division between the artifact, the facility, and the content. An artifact is "a discreet, observable, nameable representation of an idea or set of ideas". Articles, books, database, etc are typical examples of artifacts. While physical artifacts are used in a sequential manner by multiple readers, digital artifacts can be used simultaneously by several users. On the other hand, a facility is a storehouse of artifacts. They can be compared to the resource system in conventional CPR theory and are subject to deterioration. They are usually governed by rules and norms and have a physical limitation on the number and type of artifacts that can be stored. Internet is a digital facility. Finally, "the content of an artifact in a facility is information…..…and is the nonphysical flow unit". For the purpose of this paper, only content is being interpreted as a Common Pool Resource.

ICTD INITIATIVES AS INSTITUTIONS FOR INFORMATION "COMMONS"

"Most works written to-date studying the Internet as a common-pool resource centre on the technology infrastructure and the social network issues rather than the institutions developed about the distributed information per se" (Hess and Ostrom, 2001). Governance arrangements are extremely important for provision, production, appropriation, and use of long enduring CPRs as they are subject to free riding, resource degradation and competing users. Oakerson (1990) put forth a conceptual framework that can be used to analyse "commons" across a wide variety of resources and facilities. The framework has four sets of variables; viz, physical attributes, decision making arrangements, patterns of interaction and outcomes. These four variables can be used to describe any "commons" and each one of these is further subdivided into precise and measurable items.

The Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) Framework (Oakerson, 1990) analyzes the physical attributes of the "commons" to decide on the scope, nature and boundaries of the resource. The physical attributes of the resource effect and are in turn influenced by the decision making arrangements, which are primarily concerned with governance issues (rules, etc.). Patterns of interaction refer to peoples' behaviour under established rules and physical constraints. People not only interact among themselves, but patterns of interaction may lead to compliance, donation or free riding of the resource. According to this framework, both physical attributes and patterns of interaction influence the final outcome or result. The framework can, however, be modified to gain a better understanding of institutional change. Outcomes can have a learning affect and thereby influence patterns of interaction, which in turn may lead to modified strategies. In the long run, decision making arrangements and tech-nology can also be changed (thereby changing the physical attribute of the resource) to prevent destruction of the resourced or to get better outcomes. Some of the attributes and their sub-components in the IAD framework are overlapping with CPR design principles developed by [START_REF] Ostrom | Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action[END_REF]. Following an analysis of case studies involving a variety of CPRs, she developed eight design principles that characterise institutions governing long-enduring CPRs. She defines a design principle as "…a conception used either consciously or unconsciously by those constituting and reconstituting a continuing association of individuals about a general organising principle" and goes on to add that specific rules-in-use show a wide variation. These design principles include: (1) clearly defined boundaries which authorise individual users with rights to withdraw the resource units and clear cut boundaries for the CPR, (2) congruence between appropriation and provision rules and local conditions that ensure preservation of the resource, (3) collective choice arrangements that enable most resource users to participate in crafting rules, (4) monitoring resource condition and user behaviour, (5) graduated sanctions which are applicable to all violators of rules, (6) conflict resolution mechanism that is low cost and local, (7) minimal recognition of rights to organize that give some authority to users without undue interference, and (8) nested enterprises through which appropriation, provision, monitoring, enforcement, conflict resolution and governance activities are organised at multiple layers. These design principles have stood the test of time, have been widely used for analysing CPRs across the globe (especially natural CPRs) and have since acquired a prescriptive status. Only the initial seven design principles have been used for present discussion as the eighth principle (nested enterprises) applies mostly to larger and more complex CPRs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF PROJECTS

Use of ICTs for development including agricultural growth started in India in late 1990s. Many players -national and state governments, private business organizations and civil society groups are engaged in their implementation and provide a wide variety of information ranging from government schemes, market information, technical advice and capacity building. Both the projects described below provide a variety of information that can be used by farmers. JANADHAR: Janadhar is an internet based e-governance initiative of the Government of Uttarakhand (a state in Northern India). It was started mainly to deliver information of public interest and services related to various government departments at the doorsteps of the citizens and also provide agriculture information to the farmers of the state. The project was started in March 2005 with funding from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and technical guidance was provided by Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee. The project was implemented through Rural Information Centres (popularly known as Soochna Kutir). These Rural Information Centres were managed by local youth who were trained in both organizational and technical aspect. At these Centres, information was provided to the citizens through a portal -UTTARA -especially developed for the project by IIT, Roorkee. UTTARA contains a wide variety of information on the state and is a centralized "databank". The portal is hosted on a group of servers located in the data centre at IIT, Roorkee. Information is predominantly in Hindi (local language), while a few pages are in English and the homepage and information of more general interest is in both Hindi and English.

Janadhar highlights a case where more than one type of property regime is in place. The project itself (hence the portal) was owned by the Government of Uttarakahnd, through IIT, Roorkee. But, the Rural Information Centres were essentially a private property as the service delivery was handed over/ contracted to individuals who were responsible for establishing and running the Soochna Kutir as a self employment venture. Hardware and internet connectivity was provided by IIT, Roorkee and the owner (who also acted as an infomediary) provided physical space for the Centre. It was found that only 10% of the sampled population had used the services offered under the project since its inception [START_REF] Barala | A Study of Rural Knowledge Centers in Nainital District of Uttaranchal[END_REF].

There are several reasons for low usage by the farmers. Firstly, the infomediaries (Sanchalak), who were also owners of the Rural Information Centres, did not find these centres economically viable and attempted to augment their income by providing market driven services like public telephony, DPT work, coaching classes, internet browsing, etc. This resulted in dilution of services offered by the project. Secondly, in most cases, the Centres were contracted to small time businessmen who were already engaged in a similar enterprise (like computer center/ internet cafe). This decision resulted in the infomediaries using the project equipment for personal business purpose. Lastly, much of the information posted on the site was "routine" and hence, not of much use to the farmers. The portal also has a facility for sending farmers' queries to experts to address specific farm problems. This can be done via an exclusive email account that could be accessed only by the Sanchalak. The farmer can request the sanchalak to send his/ her query to an expert after paying a fixed price. He/ she can view the reply by approaching the Sanchalak a second time and payment of the requisite fee. It was found that the response rate was very slow and reply was usually received after 7-10 days. In the intermittent period, the farmer would visit the Soochna Kutir two/ three times hoping for a reply. Every time he approached the Sanchalak to check for the reply (which can be done only by logging into the system), he had to pay the required fee, thereby losing money. On an average, farmer incurred an expenditure of Rs 5o/-(approximately 1US $) per query. IFFCO AIRTEL GREEN CARD: IFFCO is primarily a fertilizer producing unit, but also provides other agricultural services like crop insurance, agricultural extension, soil testing facilities, etc., to the farmers. IFFCO Kisan Sanchar Limited (IKSL) was incorporated in April, 2007 as a joint venture (JV) company between Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) and Bharti Airtel in which IFFCO has 50% stake and Bharti Airtel and Star Global have 25% equity each. Bharti Airtel Limited is a part of Bharti enterprises and is one of India's leading integrated telecom service provider. The joint venture company offers "IFFCO Airtel Green Card". Under this scheme, affordable mobile handsets are bundled with Airtel mobile connection. The cost of the hand set, Airtel connection with one year validity and IKSL services was Rupees One Thousand (Rs 1000/-or approximately 20 US$). In addition, farmers could call others farmers subscribing to the service at cheaper call rates (@ fifty paisa per minute). All the farmers having IFFCO Airtel Green Card have access to a unique VAS platform that sends five free voice messages related to agriculture (market prices, farming techniques, weather forecasts, dairy farming, animal husbandry, rural health initiatives and fertilizer availability, etc.) every day. But, if the farmer wants to listen to the information a second time, (s)he had to pay the call charge (@ one rupee per minute). In addition, the farmer can also call a dedicated helpline (Helpline number-534351), manned by experts to seek answers to specific queries. These calls were also charged at the rate of one rupee per minute.

Majority of the farmers felt that the information delivered by IKSL was useful. However, usefulness was interpreted in different ways by farmers belonging to different socio-economic categories. Farmers with high socio-economic status said that the service acted as a reminder for timely agricultural operations. Further, messages about likely pest/insect infestation helped them to take precautionary measures and save their crop from potential loss. On the other hand, farmers belonging to medium and low socio economic status found the service useful as they received relevant agricultural information at their doorsteps. This saved their time and cost (required for travelling to extension agency). However, none of the farmers made proactive use of the service, i.e. they have never used the helpline service.

APPLYING DESIGN PRINCIPLES AND ICTD INITIATIVES

How far do these projects incorporate design principles characteristic of enduring CPRs? CLEARLY DEFINED BOUNDARIES: [START_REF] Ostrom | Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action[END_REF] argues that well defined boundaries apply both to the resource system and authorised users. In case of both these initiatives, boundaries of the resource system are well defined. Quantum, nature, types and form of information (though not the actual content) was predetermined. The technology through information was made available to users has also remained unchanged during the period. On the other hand, users were amorphous due to operational and financial reasons. In case of Janadhar, due to economic factors, informediaries encouraged the youth (50% users were students) to use Rural Information Centres (RIC) for internet browsing, playing games, academic work, etc. At the same time, primary or authorised users were pushed into the background due to apathy of the infomediary, lack of relevant content, cost related issues, etc. On the other hand, IFFCO Airtel Green Card offered handset, connection and information services at a subsidized rate. In order to take advantage of the subsidy, many non-farmers subscribed to the scheme and used reduced call rates to maintain social networks (for making calls to friends, relatives, etc.) and their developmental use was only incidental and limited. This point is borne out by the fact that only 31.43% respondents were primarily engaged in agriculture. Authorised users were also few due to logistical issues (non-availability of inputs suggested by the experts in local market) and use of highly technical terms in voice messages.

CONGRUENCE BETWEEN APPROPRIATION AND PROVISION RULES AND LOCAL CONDITIONS:

This implies a restriction on the number of authorized users and making rules regarding harvesting pattern, how much, when and how a resource can be harvested. This is essential for resource conservation. "How much" is not relevant in this case, as "extraction" of information through digital technologies does not deplete/ limit its availability to others. Similarly, "how" information can be accessed is also clear cut in these two cases (through a databank and expert system that can be accessed only with the permission of the infomediary in first case and using mobile telephony in the second case). "When" in case of Janadhar was problematic as information could be accessed only at the convenience of the infomediary (timings of the Centre were dependent upon the Sanchalak convenience), expert (when he/she is able to respond to the farmers' query), infrastructure (electricity connection, seating capacity, etc.). Further, in both the cases, there were no rules concerning who would be the primary users (which appears to be a more appropriate term when compared to authorized users). While the initiatives themselves were aimed at rural people/farmers for developmental purpose, there was no mechanism to ensure use by them. Hence, users were predominantly students in first case and non-farmers in the second case. In a way, both initiatives highlight "underprovision" of the resource to primary users instead of utilizing the excess capacity for providing the resource to subsidiary users. COLLECTIVE CHOICE ARRANGEMENTS AND MONITORING: Peoples' participation in framing rules that govern the day-to-day operation of the resource is essential as they can be tailored to local and resource conditions in a dynamic environment. Peoples' participation was the leitmotif in development theory and practice during the 1980s. This concept extended to communication projects as can be made out from terms like participatory communication, participatory message design, participatory evaluation, etc. It seems ironic that ICT based development projects that aim to democratize communication process and seek to use information as the prime mover of development have little to contribute in terms of peoples' involvement. Most of them are top down and view citizens as consumers of expert information. External enforcement has largely failed in case of conventional development projects and similar outcomes have been observed in case of several ICT initiatives. In the cases cited above, all decisions regarding technology, content, mode of delivery, operational procedures, etc were taken by "experts" leading to a mismatch between peoples' needs and project outputs at several levels. Peoples' involvement in monitoring and evaluation is considered most mature and highest level of participation. In the absence of sense of ownership, there was no involvement of the people to take/ enforce corrective measures when resource (information) was not provided/ underprovided and the resource system itself was not working efficiently or was high jacked by others. GRADUATED SANCTIONS: Ideally, sanctions against those who break the rules should be developed by the users themselves through consensus. This requires monitoring of resource use by authorized users in the first place and the sanctions themselves should vary with the nature and extent of violation of rules. In case of traditional CPRs, graduated sanctions often take the form of payment in cash or kind coupled with loss of prestige or social disgrace. Is there a violator in these cases? If so, who are they? The studies present an interesting situation as the violators are not the authorized users themselves. Use of RIC by youth and neglect of farming community was a consequence of the infomediary's actions (need to make a success of the enterprise) and provisions within the project (which do not stipulate use by farmers, decision to use a business model which incentivizes use of the Centres by others, etc.). In case of IFFCO Airtel Green Card, violators include authorized users (who subscribed to the subsidized connection and passed it on to others due to low cost) and disbursement agency (which allowed ownership by subsidiary users). Sanctions can also be developed by officials, which may be necessary if the user group is not powerful or is unable to come to a consensus regarding sanctions. In these cases, that was clearly absent due to discrepancies at the implementation stage.

CONFLICT RESOLUTION MECHANISMS: All joint use arrangements face disputes at some point in time or the other. Hence, it is vital that the users and officials have access to low cost conflict resolution venues and mechanisms. In its absence, some users may be tempted to free ride or outsiders may appropriate the resource. In many CPR studies it was found that the conflict resolution mechanism is localized and informal with elders/ leaders acting as the arbitrator. However, "the presence of conflict resolution mechanisms does not guarantee that appropriators are able to maintain enduring institutions" [START_REF] Ostrom | Neither market nor state: Governance of Common Property Resources in Twenty First Century[END_REF]. Conflict is expressed struggle between competing positions held by individuals or groups. It is pertinent to note that, absence of conflict does not always indicate harmony. Often the underrepresented or less powerful individual or group may withdraw. While the farmers in these cases cannot be labelled a less powerful, they were underrepresented/ unrepresented at planning, implementation and evaluation stages. This partially explains underuse of the facility by them rather than expressing discontent. MINIMAL RECOGNITION OF RIGHTS TO ORGANIZE: For effective functioning of CPR institutions, it is essential that the authorised users have a right to devise their own institution and that such rights are not challenged by external authorities. When external authorities presume that only they have the authority to make rules, then it is difficult for local users to sustain the "commons" over long run. In the context of natural CPRs, [START_REF] Ostrom | Neither market nor state: Governance of Common Property Resources in Twenty First Century[END_REF] notes that once "the economic and social base has been weakened enough, then simply assigning a local authority to make rules related to the use of common-pool resources would probably not be a sufficient way out of a major dilemma." Decision making, including the best way of disseminating information to farmers through ICT, was centralized in both the cases. Even informediaries (in case of Janadhar) had no say in the payments charged for the services. If they were free to decide on charges on a case to case basis, the infomediaries may not have charged the farmer (when no reply was received from the expert) or the farmer may have negotiated the price. IFFCO Airtel Green Card is operational in most states in India. Pricing, content, mode of implementation is the same across the country. This centralized structure gives rise to problems surrounding cost and content. What may be considered a reasonable cost in an agricultural advanced state like Punjab may not be viewed as such by farmers in Uttarakahnd. Even within the state, farmers from low economic strata felt that the service was expensive. But the scheme has no provision for differential pricing. Also, most of the information delivered to the farmers centred on crops grown in the plains (cereals, pulses, etc.). Hence, farmers from the hilly region of the state did not find the information useful as they were mainly engaged in cultivation of horticultural crops.

DISCUSSION

To date, myriad guidelines and criteria have been used for analysis and evaluation of ICTD projects. They mostly include supply side parameters like access, ICT infrastructure, presence of supportive environment, etc. Demand side issues have received less attention but include assessing the actual benefits accrued to the community. This approach has been extended to study the long term impact of ICT projects by [START_REF] Madon | Evaluating the developmental impact of e-governance initiatives: An exploratory framework[END_REF] using Sen's capabilities approach. It has been argued that "there is a need to measure what people in practice can or cannot do with a range of ICT applications that are available and benefits they do or do not derive."

Applying CPR design principles to ICT projects is one way of explaining why people may not be able to use ICT based applications or derive benefits from them. In the present analysis, it was found that the intended users were marginalised due to financial considerations and unrestricted access to other users. This dilemma was compounded by restrictions on use by farmers due to logistical and infrastructure bottlenecks and absence of corrective mechanism. Lack of user participation led to dumping of content that did not address farmers' needs and apathy towards the project.

Users' or community participation in development efforts including ICTD projects have been strongly advocated as it instils a sense of ownership, reflects peoples' needs and incorporates their knowledge. Participation, however, is a tricky concept. In conventional development literature, the concept has been challenged on grounds of lack of resources and skills on part of the people, ideological fuzziness, and problems during actualization. These considerations are equally valid for ICTD projects. One possible way out can be to use existing farmers' groups/ organizations as intermediaries/ representatives in a partnership approach. The conventional Public-Private Partnership model can be modified to involve a technology provider and farmers' organizations or a tri partite arrangement between technology provider, public extension system and farmers' groups. At present, these groups are engaged in input supply, training, networking, marketing, etc. and are attuned to the real needs of the farming community. Involvement of farmers' groups in itself will not ensure total community "participation", but will only lead to greater acceptance of the project resulting in active contribution towards content and operations. At the policy level, the Eleventh Five Year Plan, Government of India stipulates that at least 10% of the funds allocated for extension activities should be channelized through private agencies, making it feasible to involve farmers' groups.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

Institutions are dynamic structures whose survival and longevity depends upon their ability to adapt to a changing environment. Strong institutions are essential for long term sustainability and scalability of ICT projects. All long enduring Common Pool Resources (CPRs) are governed by robust institutions that change with time and need. Application of design principles vary widely across CPRs and as Ostrom points out, sustainability of the resource and governing institutions cannot be explained by the presence or absence of a particular design principle. The fact that they "….do differ partly explains the sustainability of these systems. By differing, the rules take into account specific attributes of the physical systems, cultural views of the world, and the economic and political relationships that exist in the setting".

It would be erroneous to imply that the less than optimal performance of the ICT based projects discussed in this paper is due to the absence of a particular design principle. But, as pointed out during the analysis, the projects seem to be falling short on many design principles deemed essential for strong CPR institutions. It would be fair to admit that the application of CPR design principles to ICT base projects is neither easy nor clear cut. It is complicated by several stakeholders, absence of clear cut "authorised owners", technology related issues and multiple property regimes.

Lastly, the whole discussion hinges on the assumption that information is considered as a resource by the farmers. This supposition may not be true for all farmers. Information is a resource only if it can be converted into a benefit or fulfils a particular need. Agriculture in India (especially Uttarakhand) is limited by several factors like pricing policy, infrastructure, inputs, etc. In such a scenario, farmers are rarely motivated to contest for more and better information. Information is just one component of the system that can make agriculture profitable and farmers seem to realize this better than development agencies with "good intentions".


Satish Krishnan
email: satishk@comp.nus.edu.sg

Thompson H Teo
email: tteo@comp.nus.edu.sg

John Lim
email: jlim@comp.nus.edu.sg

Thompson S H Teo

E-Participation and E-Government Maturity: A Global Perspective

Keywords: ICT infrastructure, human capital, governance, e-participation, egovernment maturity

des établissements d'enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés.

1 Introduction E-government can be defined as the delivery of government information and services using the Internet or other digital means [START_REF] Krishnan | Moderating Effects of Governance on Information Infrastructure and E-government Development[END_REF]. Research on egovernment can be classified into three broad streams, namely, evolution and development, adoption and implementation, and impact on stakeholders [START_REF] Srivastava | Is E-Government Providing the Promised Returns? A Value Framework for Assessing E-Government Impact[END_REF]. While there is a vast amount of research carried out in these three areas, most studies were concerned with specific aspects of e-government in reference to specific region or country [START_REF] Srivastava | The Relationship between E-Government and National Competitiveness: The Moderating Influence of Environmental Factors[END_REF]. Although the need for considering a macro-level (i.e., cross-country level) perspective is largely stressed in past literature [START_REF] Srivastava | E-Government, E-Business, and National Economic Performance[END_REF], researchers with few exceptions (e.g., [START_REF] Krishnan | Moderating Effects of Governance on Information Infrastructure and E-government Development[END_REF], ignored or overlooked them due to the lack of cumulative theoretical development in e-government research [START_REF] Heeks | Analyzing E-government Research: Perspectives, Philosophies, Theories, Methods, and Practice[END_REF] to devise an empirical study addressing macro-level issues. Predicated by this concern, the present study addresses the need for conducting cross-country quantitative empirical study.

E-government maturity in a country represents the extent to which a government has established an online presence [START_REF] West | Global E-Government[END_REF]). Implicitly, it constitutes a continuum of developmental stages, from publishing information to supporting transactions, with some countries having progressed further than others [START_REF] West | Global E-Government[END_REF]. Despite numerous motivations and service targets underlying public institutions, furthering egovernment, and reaching the stage of maturity is a challenging task faced by government agencies in most countries. Motivated by this challenge faced by majority of governments, a major purpose of this study is to identify the country-level factors influencing e-government maturity.

It is widely acknowledged that "citizen engagement" is key to growth and maturity of e-government [START_REF] Chan | User Engagement in E-Government Systems Implementation: A Comparative Case Study of Two Singaporean E-Government Initiatives[END_REF][START_REF] Olphert | Citizen Participation and Engagement in the Design of E-Government Services: The Missing Link in Effective ICT Design and Delivery[END_REF]. The concept of citizen engagement is exercised through e-participation, which involves the extension and transformation of participation in societal democratic and consultative process mediated by ICTs and the Internet [START_REF] Saebo | The Shape of E-Participation: Characterizing an Emerging Research Area[END_REF]). Emerging research on eparticipation is limited in two ways. First, most studies remain -except a few recent studies -at best anecdotal, conjectural, and descriptive. While such studies offer benchmarks for practitioners to assess and evaluate their practices pertaining to eparticipation, they provide little value to theory. Second, among few recent studies, most (e.g., [START_REF] Hartwick | Communication as a Dimension of User Participation[END_REF] focus on the demand side of e-participation (i.e., citizens' perspective) rather than the supply side (i.e., governments' perspective). Motivated by the fact that there is a dearth of macro-level studies examining eparticipation from supply side, in this study, we focus on the G2C aspect of participation, and adopt the definition as defined by the UN; e-participation is defined as the willingness of a government (and its agencies) to use online tools (e.g., email and discussion forums) for the specific purpose of empowering people for able participation in consultations and decision-making, both in their capacity as consumers of public services and as citizens (UN-Report 2005).

E-participation consists of three dimensions, namely, e-information sharing, econsultation, and e-decision-making (UN-Report 2005). E-information sharing is concerned with the willingness of governments to offer tools (e.g., web forums, email lists, newsgroups and chat rooms) for dissemination of information (e.g., list of elected officials, policies and programs, and point of contact) on their websites for timely access and use by citizens. E-consultation is concerned with the willingness of governments to encourage their citizens to participate in discussions by offering a choice of public policy topics online with real time and archived access to audios and videos of public meetings. Finally, e-decision-making is related to governments' willingness in indicating that it will take its citizens' e-inputs into account in decisionmaking, and provide actual feedback on the outcome of specific issues. A recent study conducted by the UN highlighted that e-participation is still in a "nascent state" indicating disconnectedness between government and its citizens (UN-Report 2010).

Given that e-participation plays a pivotal role in growth and maturity of e-government (Chan and Pan 2008) by serving as a mechanism to manage the development of e-government services [START_REF] Olphert | Citizen Participation and Engagement in the Design of E-Government Services: The Missing Link in Effective ICT Design and Delivery[END_REF]; it is necessary to identify the determinants that facilitate countries to attain varying levels of e-participation.

With these motivations, using the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) theory [START_REF] Tornatzky | The Processes of Technological Innovation[END_REF]) as a guiding theoretical lens, we identify the contextual factors facilitating e-participation (in form of e-information sharing, econsultation, and e-decision-making) and e-government maturity in a nation. Further, by drawing from the citizen engagement literature, we investigate the effects of einformation sharing, e-consultation, and e-decision-making on e-government maturity, and the mediating effects of e-information sharing, e-consultation, and edecision-making on the relationships between the TOE factors and e-government maturity. In sum, the research questions are: (1) What TOE contextual factors facilitate e-participation and e-government maturity? [START_REF] Baron | The Moderator-Mediator Variable Distinction in Social Psychological Research: Conceptual, Strategic, and Statistical Considerations[END_REF] What is the relationship between e-participation and e-government maturity? [START_REF] Chadwick | Interactions between States and Citizens in the Age of the Internet: 'E-government' in the United States, Britain and the European Union[END_REF] How does e-participation mediate the effects of TOE contextual factors on e-government maturity?

The rest of the paper is organized as follows. In the ensuing section, we present our theoretical background and hypotheses. This is followed by a section on research design. Thereafter, using archival data from 187 countries, we test the hypothesized model. We then discuss the results and the implications for future research. The final section provides concluding remarks with a restatement of the value of the work.

Theory and Hypotheses

We use the theoretical framework proposed by [START_REF] Tornatzky | The Processes of Technological Innovation[END_REF] as our foundation. According to them, innovation adoption or technology deployment in a firm is influenced by three contexts, namely, technological context, organizational context, and environmental context. Based on our review of academic (e.g., Krishnan and Teo 2012; Siau and Long 2009) and practitioner literature (e.g., UN-Report 2003; 2010) on e-government, we identify three factors that might be influential in facilitating e-participation and e-government maturity in a country (see Fig. 1): (1) ICT infrastructure; (2) human capital; and (3) governance. These three factors correspond to the three contexts defined in the TOE theory. ICT infrastructure is the gradual convergence of broadcasting content, telecommunications, and computing [START_REF] Tapscott | The Digital Economy: The Promise and Peril in the Age of Networked Intelligence[END_REF]. Human capital, on the other hand, refers to the knowledge, skills, and abilities embodied in people (here, citizens) [START_REF] Coff | Human Capital, Shared Expertise, and the Likelihood of Impasse in Corporate Acquisitions[END_REF]. Governance is defined as the traditions and institutions by which authority in a country is exercised [START_REF] Kaufmann | Governance Matters. Policy Research Working Paper 2196[END_REF]). We next derive and explain each hypothesis.

ICT Infrastructure, E-Government Maturity, and E-Participation

According to neoclassical and new growth theories, technological progress and creativity is a critical determinant of growth and development [START_REF] Lucas | On the Mechanics of Economic Development[END_REF][START_REF] Romer | Endogenous Technological Change[END_REF]. Extending this argument in the context of e-government, we argue that ICT infrastructure can contribute towards the growth and maturity of e-government systems as e-government needs to utilize the information infrastructure to deliver online public services [START_REF] Siau | Factors Impacting E-Government Development[END_REF]. In a similar vein, Srivastava and Teo (2010) stressed that government and its agencies can fulfill their duties related to the daily activities of citizens and businesses only when they are connected with the citizens and businesses, which indeed is possible only with a sound ICT infrastructure. [START_REF] Warkentin | Encouraging Citizen Adoption of E-Government by Building Trust[END_REF] emphasized that e-government is characterized by extensive use of ICTs that stimulates the growth and maturity of e-government. [START_REF] Koh | Creating Value through Managing Knowledge in an E-Government to Constituency (G2C) Environment[END_REF] and [START_REF] Singh | Country-Level Determinants of E-Government Maturity[END_REF] highlighted that reaching the stage of egovernment maturity will remain an "unrealized dream" in the absence of sound and reliable ICT infrastructure. Hence, we posit: 'H1: ICT infrastructure in a country is positively associated with its e-government maturity. ' For governments to be more willing to implement e-participation initiatives, robust ICT infrastructure that allows citizens access to decision makers is required (UN-Report 2005). Meso et al. (2009) indicated that the availability of ICTs (1) allows greater access by the population to government services; (2) facilitates public participation in policy-making process by rapidly disseminating news and information to the citizens; and (3) eliminates or minimizes barriers to participation in the country's economic markets. Further, information infrastructure (e.g., Web 2.0) plays a critical role in empowering citizens to become more active in expressing their views on issues concerning environment, health, education and other areas of government policy (UN-Report 2010). In sum, a government's willingness to (1) request, receive and incorporate feedback from its constituents; and (2) tailor the policy measures to meet the needs and priorities of citizens can be enhanced only when a sound, robust and reliable ICT infrastructure is in place. Therefore, we propose: 'H2: ICT infrastructure in a country is positively associated with its (H2a) e-information sharing; (H2b) e-consultation; and (H2c) e-decision-making.'

Human Capital, E-Government Maturity, and E-Participation

Human capital indicates how well educated are the citizens in a nation. [START_REF] Schultz | Investment in Human Capital[END_REF] and Lewis (1955) in their human capital theory have stressed the critical role of "human capital" in growth and development of individuals and nations. Specifically, Schultz argued that human capital is one of the critical reasons that explain the differences in growth (e.g., income and productivity) between human beings as well as nations. Like human capital theory, the new growth theory also supported knowledge-based economy by recognizing the importance of human capital and indicates that the investment in human capital generates returns in the future [START_REF] Lucas | On the Mechanics of Economic Development[END_REF]Romer 1986). Flak and Rose (2005) indicated that citizens is one of the important stakeholder groups for successfully implementing e-government initiatives, and their knowledge is a valuable resource for e-governments to attain the stage of maturity. Further, [START_REF] Singh | Country-Level Determinants of E-Government Maturity[END_REF] found that human capital is a significant determinant of e-government maturity, and Srivastava and Teo (2010) established that human capital (in terms of education and training) in a country is positively associated with the level of its e-government. Therefore, we propose: 'H3: Human capital in a country is positively associated with its e-government maturity.'

UN established the expectations of citizens to be directly involved in designing government programs and services (UN-Report 2005). That is, at various stages of policy process, from elections to policy planning and implementation, citizens are becoming increasingly involved [START_REF] Phang | A Framework of ICT Exploitation for E-Participation Initiatives[END_REF]. Such participation is possible only when the citizens have sufficient learning skills and knowledge capabilities embodied within them. This will indeed facilitate governments' willingness to (1) increase e-information sharing; (2) enhance e-consultation; and ( 3) support e-decision-making. Hence, when citizens are empowered, they are not only able to participate, but also create a different relationship with their respective governments, characterized by enhanced effectiveness (UN-Report 2010). Hence, we posit: 'H4: Human capital in a country is positively associated with its (H4a) einformation sharing; (H4b) e-consultation; and (H4c) e-decision-making.'

Governance, E-Government Maturity, and E-Participation

Governance refers to the collection of processes and institutions that creates the conditions for ordered rule and collective action [START_REF] Kazancigil | Governance and Science: Market-like Modes of Managing Society and Producing Knowledge[END_REF]. [START_REF] Madon | E-Government Policy and Health Information Systems Implementation in Andhra Pradesh, India: Need for Articulation of Linkages between the Macro and the Micro[END_REF] established that effective implementation of government-based information systems (IS) for the provision of services is impacted by the macro-level policymaking organs; thereby shaping the type of system that eventually gets implemented. [START_REF] Moon | The Evolution of E-Government among Municipalities: Rhetoric or Reality?[END_REF] found that institutional factors significantly contributed to the adoption of e-government among municipalities. [START_REF] Norris | Advancing E-Government at the Grassroots: Tortoise or Hare?[END_REF] showed that the level of adoption and sophistication of e-government systems are correlated with the presence of well-developed institutional factors. A study conducted by [START_REF] West | E-Government and the Transformation of Service Delivery and Citizen Attitudes[END_REF] and [START_REF] Srivastava | E-Government, E-Business, and National Economic Performance[END_REF] highlighted the importance of governance mechanisms in ensuring e-government growth and maturity. As effective governance assures an environment conducive to investment [START_REF] Meso | Moderating Information and Communication Technologies' Influences on Socioeconomic Development with Good Governance: A Study of the Developing Countries[END_REF]), we posit: 'H5: Governance in a country is positively associated with its e-government maturity. ' Governance entails public debate and open, participatory decision-making. According to the participatory model of governance in e-government implementation [START_REF] Chadwick | Interactions between States and Citizens in the Age of the Internet: 'E-government' in the United States, Britain and the European Union[END_REF], governance is seen as open communications, where the opinions are not directed only to government but to all players within the governance communications space. Hence, governance fosters the collaboration and information sharing among disparate stakeholders. In addition, effective governance ensures an enhanced supply of the desired services, eliminates or minimizes the barriers to participation, and promotes rule of law [START_REF] Meso | Moderating Information and Communication Technologies' Influences on Socioeconomic Development with Good Governance: A Study of the Developing Countries[END_REF]). Also, governance provides direction to creation of environment in which citizens can be more active and supportive of their governments, and increase the willingness of governments to use ICTs to provide high quality information and effective communication tools for able participation in consultations and decision-making. Therefore, we propose: 'H6. Governance in a country is positively associated with its (H6a) e-information sharing; (H6b) e-consultation; and (H6c) e-decision-making.'

Relating E-Participation to E-Government Maturity

According to e-government stage models, e-government maturity cannot be thought as a one-step project or implemented as a single project [START_REF] Siau | Using Social Development Lenses to Understand E-Government Development[END_REF]. The implication from the stage models is that the growth and maturity of e-government is evolutionary in nature and the stages (of growth) are theoretically ascending in the level of maturity or sophistication of e-government (UN-Report 2003). Given that citizen engagement via e-participation is pivotal in the evolutionary process of egovernment maturity (Chan and Pan 2008; Olphert and Damodaran 2007), it is logical to presume that as government's willingness to engage its citizens in e-government processes increases, so does the level of e-government maturity in a country. That is, when the government is willing to implement e-participation initiatives, citizens become "active creators" or "feedback providers," thereby contributing information to the success of e-government [START_REF] Ekelin | Working with the Fogbow: Design and Reconfiguration of Services and Participation in E-government[END_REF]). This fact is also emphasized in a study by [START_REF] Tan | Managing E-Transformation in the Public Sector: An E-Government Study of the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS)[END_REF]. According to them, a bureaucratic government organization can move towards anticipative and responsive practices only when it treats its citizens as "strategic value networks" in the process of e-transformation. Further, they stress that such a relationship will not only lead to "total customer satisfaction" but also create "multi-directional strategic value." Consequently, we posit: 'H7. E-participation (H7a. e-information sharing; H7b. e-consultation; and H7c. e-decision-making) in a country is positively associated with its e-government maturity.'

Mediated Effects of E-Participation

Having assembled each of the piecewise elements and relations in our research model (see Fig. 1), we logically deduce one more set of hypotheses. We posit that eparticipation (in form of e-information sharing, e-consultation, and e-decisionmaking) serves as an intervening mechanism or, at the least, partial conveyors of the effects of TOE contexts onto e-government maturity. That is, TOE contexts indirectly influence e-government maturity by raising the levels of e-information sharing, econsultation, and e-decision-making. More formally, we therefore offer the following: 'H8: TOE contexts' (H8a. ICT infrastructure; H8b. human capital; and H8c. governance) effects on e-government maturity are mediated by e-information sharing, e-consultation and e-decision-making.'

Research Design

To test the formulated hypotheses, we gathered archival data (for each of the main constructs) as it offers several advantages such as easy reproducibility, ability to generalize the results arising from larger datasets, and robust to the threat of common method bias [START_REF] Jarvenpaa | Panning for Gold in Information Systems Research: 'Second-Hand' Data[END_REF]. Hypotheses were tested via a cross-sectional analysis of 187 countries (after omitting the missing values).

The dependent construct, e-government maturity, reflecting the demonstrated behavior of e-government in a country, is measured as the extent to which a government has established an online presence [START_REF] West | Global E-Government[END_REF]. The scores for this construct were obtained from the Global E-Government Report 2007 [START_REF] West | Global E-Government[END_REF], and has been used in past academic studies such as [START_REF] Singh | Country-Level Determinants of E-Government Maturity[END_REF]. The mediating construct, e-participation was measured on three dimensions: (1) e-information sharing; (1) e-consultation; and (3) e-decision-making. The UN assessed eparticipation (qualitatively with values running between 0 and 1, with the higher values corresponding to the better results) by measuring the willingness of governments to engage citizens in public policy-making through the use of relevant programs (UN-Report 2005). The scores for these three dimensions were obtained from the UN Global E-Government Survey Report 2005 (UN-Report 2005).

The technology construct, ICT infrastructure is indicated by the Telecommunication Infrastructure Index, the values for which were taken from the UN global e-government survey report 2003 (UN-Report 2003). This index is a composite weighted average of six primary indices (PCs/1000 persons, Internet users/1000 persons, telephone lines/1000 persons, online population, mobile phones/1000 persons, and TVs/1000 persons), which define a country's ICT infrastructure capacity. This index has been used in past academic studies like Krishnan and Teo (2012), and Srivastava and Teo (2010). The organizational construct, human capital is indicated by the Education Index, the values (running between 0 and 1, with the higher values corresponding to the higher levels of human capital) for which were obtained from the UN global e-government survey report 2003 (UN-Report 2003). This index is a composite of the adult literacy rate and the combined primary, secondary and tertiary gross enrolment ratio, with two-thirds of the weight given to adult literacy and one-third to the gross enrolment ratio. This index has been used in past academic studies like [START_REF] Srivastava | The Relationship between E-Government and National Competitiveness: The Moderating Influence of Environmental Factors[END_REF]. The environmental construct, governance was operationalized using six aggregated measures of governance (with values running between -2.5 and 2.5, with the higher values corresponding to the better governance) originally presented in [START_REF] Kaufmann | Governance Matters. Policy Research Working Paper 2196[END_REF] Additional control variables consisted of economic conditions (measured in terms of GDP per capita, adjusted for purchasing power parity) and regional difference, operationalized as the country-level difference across various regions of the world.

Analysis and Results

Descriptive Statistics and Correlations

Table 1 present the descriptive statistics and correlations for all variables. As shown, most correlations were significant at p<0.001. In addition, as correlations were below the threshold value of 0.8, the concern for multicollinearity would be minimal [START_REF] Gujarati | Basic Econometrics[END_REF]). Nevertheless, we followed up with the collinearity tests that measure variance inflation factor (VIF). The results revealed that our VIFs ranged from 1.31 to 3.43 (all tolerance levels above 0.29). As per Fox (1991), a VIF > 4.0, or a tolerance level < 0.25, may indicate the potential for multicollinearity; thus, the concern in our model appeared to be minimal.

Hypotheses Testing

Given the importance of the mediating effects in our research model, it is necessary to conduct a systematic analysis exploring these effects. Since the research model has more than one mediator, this study refers to the method that Preacher and Hayes (2008) recommended for testing multiple-mediator models. A Preacher and Hayes analysis includes an examination of the total and direct effects of the independent variable on the dependent variable, the difference between which is the indirect effect of the independent variable on the dependent variable through mediators. The analysis also yields an estimation of the indirect effect of each mediator. In addition, the biascorrected (BC) bootstrap will generate a 95% confidence interval (CI) for each mediator. If the interval for a mediator does not contain zero, it means the indirect effect of this mediator is significantly different from zero. In addition, a contrast between two mediators shows how their indirect effects can be distinguished in terms of magnitude. Fig. 1 shows the regression results.

As shown in Fig. 1, the results revealed that the paths from ICT infrastructure to egovernment maturity (β = 0.78, p < 0.001) and from human capital to e-government maturity (β = 0.23, p < 0.001) were significant. Hence, H1 and H3 were supported. As the path from governance to e-government maturity (β = 0.03, n.s.) was not significant, H5 was not supported. Results also revealed that the paths from ICT infrastructure to e-information sharing (β = 0.81, p < 0.001), e-consulting (β = 0.76, p < 0.001) and e-decision-making (β = 0.65, p < 0.001) were all significant. This confirmed H2a, H2b, and H2c. Similarly, while the paths from human capital to einformation sharing (β = 0.15, p < 0.01) and e-consulting (β = 0.12, p < 0.05) were significant, the path concerning e-decision-making was not significant (β = 0.08, n.s.). Hence, H4a and H4b were supported and H4c was not supported. Further, the paths from governance to e-information sharing (β = 0.03, n.s.), e-consulting (β = 0.01, n.s.) and e-decision-making (β = 0.02, n.s.) were not significant. Hence, H6a, H6b, and H6c were not supported. Lastly, the paths from e-information sharing (β = 0.60, p < 0.001), e-consultation (β = -0.23, p < 0.05), and e-decision-making (β = 0.27, p < 0.01) to e-government maturity were all significant. However, while the direction of the relationships of e-information sharing and e-decision-making with e-government maturity was consistent with our initial prediction, the direction of the relationship between e-consultation and e-government maturity was contrary to our initial prediction. Hence, H7a and H7c were supported, and H7b was not supported. While unexpected, this finding is interesting and will be discussed in greater detail in the next section. Finally, the control variables, economic conditions (β = -0.004, n.s.) and regional differences (β = 0.003, n.s.) were not significantly associated with egovernment maturity. Table 2 presents the mediation results. First, model 1 was examined, in which ICT infrastructure was the independent variable with human capital and governance treated as covariates. Next, model 2 was examined, in which human capital was the independent variable with ICT infrastructure and governance treated as covariates. As shown in Table 2, ICT infrastructure [human capital] had a significant total effect on e-government maturity. When the mediators were introduced, the direct effect of ICT infrastructure [human capital] on e-government maturity remained significant. This meant that e-information sharing, e-consultation, and e-decision-making partially mediated the impact of ICT infrastructure [human capital] on e-government maturity. Furthermore, the difference between the total and direct effects was the total indirect effect as mediated through e-information sharing, e-consultation, and e-decisionmaking, with a point estimate of 0.4974 [0.0861] and a 95% BC bootstrap CI of 0.3435 to 0.6783 [0.0287 to 0.1543]. Since the CI did not contained zero, the total indirect effect was different from zero. An examination of the specific indirect effects indicated that e-information sharing, e-consultation, and e-decision-making were mediators as their 95% CIs did not contain zero. The point estimate of the indirect impact through e-information sharing and e-consultation were 0.4965 [0.0932] and -0.1800 [-0.0298] respectively, and of that through e-decision-making was 0.1809 [0.0226]. Examination of the pairwise contrasts of the indirect effects (i.e., C1, C2, and C3 in model 1 [START_REF] Baron | The Moderator-Mediator Variable Distinction in Social Psychological Research: Conceptual, Strategic, and Statistical Considerations[END_REF] of Table 2) showed that (1) the specific indirect effect through e-information sharing was larger than the specific indirect effect through econsultation, with a BC 95% CI of 0.3281 to 1.1492 [0.0477 to 0.2437]; (2) the specific indirect effect through e-information sharing was larger than the specific indirect effect through e-decision-making, with a BC 95% CI of 0.0220 to 0.6512 [0.0130 to 0.1513]; and (3) the specific indirect effect through e-consultation was larger than the specific indirect effect through e-decision-making, with a BC 95% CI of -0.7436 to -0.0348 [-0.1325 to -0.0048]. In sum, H8a [H8b] was supported. Next, model 3 was examined, in which governance was the independent variable with ICT infrastructure and human capital treated as covariates. As shown in Table 2, governance did not have a significant total effect on e-government maturity. While some researchers (e.g., [START_REF] Baron | The Moderator-Mediator Variable Distinction in Social Psychological Research: Conceptual, Strategic, and Statistical Considerations[END_REF]) suggested that a significant total effect of the independent variable on the dependent variable is a prerequisite for testing the mediating effects, others (e.g., [START_REF] Shrout | Mediation in Experimental and Nonexperimental Studies: New Procedures and Recommendations[END_REF] argued that this is not necessary. Thus, we continued to examine the mediating effects. However, as shown in Table 2 (model 3), the total indirect effects were not significant, with a point estimate of 0.0251 and a 95% BC CI of -0.0017 to 0.0562. Examination of the specific indirect effects showed that neither of e-participation variables were mediators, since their 95% CIs contained zero. Hence, H8c was not supported.

Discussion

Our findings raise several issues that deserve mention. First, the level of ICT infrastructure in a country significantly contributed to its e-participation and egovernment maturity. Within e-participation, the effect of ICT infrastructure was positively associated with all the three dimensions of e-participation. Further, the relationship between the levels of ICT infrastructure and e-government maturity was partially mediated by all the three dimensions of e-participation. Thus, the availability of robust, reliable and sound ICT infrastructure will not only facilitate the growth and maturity of online public services (Siau and Long 2009; Srivastava and Teo 2010) but also enhance the willingness of governments to engage its citizenry in e-government process. Hence, this result suggests that when a country's investment in ICT infrastructure increases ( 1) its e-government should be able to attain maturity; and (2) it should be more willing to encourage the public to be active in promoting participatory decision-making in public policy matters.

Second, human capital in a country was positively associated with its eparticipation and e-government maturity. Within e-participation, while the effect of human capital facilitated e-information sharing and e-consultation, there was no relationship between human capital and e-decision-making. Further, the effect of human capital was stronger in e-information sharing than in e-consultation. While our study did not come to the expected conclusions with respect to the influence of human capital in a country on the dimensions of e-participation, given its positive associations, we suggest that stimulating the evolution of human consciousness and emergence of mentally self-conscious individuals in a country via education and training will facilitate the maturity of e-government systems and enhancement of eparticipation for promoting citizen engagement. Mediation results also indicated that the relationship between the levels of human capital and e-government maturity was partially mediated by all the three dimensions of e-participation.

Third, our results indicated that governance in a country had little impact on egovernment maturity and on all the dimensions of e-participation. While strong positive correlations (see Table 1) of governance with e-government maturity and eparticipation variables suggested strong positive relationships between them, the results indicated that the technological and organizational contexts in the form of ICT infrastructure and human capital respectively were pivotal for e-government maturity and e-participation, compared to the environmental context, governance. Further, mediation results indicated that the relationship between the levels of governance and e-government maturity was not mediated by e-participation. Though several past studies (e.g., Moon 2002; Norris and Moon 2005; Srivastava and Teo 2010) had suggested governance as a significant determinant and contributor to e-government, our study did not elicit a similar result. However, it is gratifying that our findings (though not statistically significant) are in the same direction as past studies.

Finally, turning to the relationship between e-participation and e-government maturity, our results indicated that of the three e-participation dimensions, einformation sharing and e-decision-making were positively associated with egovernment maturity, and e-consultation was negatively associated. Further, between e-information-sharing and e-decision-making, the former had a stronger positive association with e-government maturity than the latter. One possible reason for variations in results may be due to the relative differences in perceived threats (e.g., implementation delays) associated with deployment of various e-participation initiatives. In sum, our results suggest that not all dimensions of e-participation will positively contribute to the growth and maturity of e-government in a country.

Our study makes several key contributions. To theory, we extend and enrich the TOE theory in three ways. First, via theoretical synthesis, we combine the attributes of the TOE theory with the citizen engagement perspective to study the phenomenon of e-government maturity. Second, while the TOE theory has served as a useful theoretical lens for understanding innovation adoption in firms, our study is one among the few studies to extend its theoretical arguments in the global context and to explore its usefulness at the macro-level. Third, while most studies applying the TOE theory have used primary survey data for analyses, our study is among the few studies to demonstrate its applicability by making an innovative use of publicly available archival data. In sum, this study heeds the call of researchers (e.g., Baker 2011) to extend and enrich TOE theory via approaches such as theoretical synthesis.

Our study also contributes to research on e-government and e-participation in three ways. First, while much research has been carried out in all three streams of egovernment research (i.e., evolution and development, adoption and implementation, and impact on stakeholders), most of them addressed research questions that are "micro" in orientation. That is, there is a paucity of research investigating the determinants of e-government maturity from a global perspective [START_REF] Siau | Factors Impacting E-Government Development[END_REF]. Realizing the need for conducting cross-country quantitative empirical research, our study identified the contextual factors facilitating the maturity of egovernment in a country. Second, while most extant studies on e-participation looked into the demand side of participation, our study offered a supply side view of participation. Specifically, by drawing from citizen engagement perspective, our study (1) has strived to further our understanding as to why differing levels of egovernment maturity among countries continues to prevail; and (2) emphasize that the willingness of government (and its agencies) in a country to deploy e-participation initiatives will serve as a "mechanism" through which the growth and maturity of egovernment projects could be managed. Third, by a deeper analysis of the mechanism of e-participation based on its dimensions (i.e., e-information sharing, e-consultation, and e-decision-making), our study indicate that the willingness of a government to deploy e-participation initiatives varies based on the nature and purpose of the eparticipation activity, which in turn affects the maturity of e-government.

From a practical standpoint, our study offers several important insights. First, by identifying the determinants of e-government maturity in a country, our study not only facilitates to understanding of why differing levels of growth and maturity of egovernment continues to prevail but also shows directions for attaining the stage of maturity. Specifically, our findings suggest that through investments in technological and human capabilities, it might be possible for a country to move up the ladder of egovernment maturity. Second, by identifying the facilitators of e-participation in a country, our study helps practitioners showing directions to increase governments' willingness towards deployment of e-participation initiatives. Specifically, ICT infrastructure and human capital in a country over its governance are critical determinants of e-participation. Third, our findings indicate that all dimensions of eparticipation play significant roles in affecting e-government maturity. Specifically, while e-information sharing and e-decision making contributes positively to egovernment maturity, e-consultation negatively affects the growth and maturity of egovernment in a country. These findings suggest to practitioners that while econsultation might provide feedback on e-government process, it is vital for practitioners to realize that it might delay e-government from reaching the stage of maturity. Thus, our findings suggest that e-consultation is a double-edged mechanism.

This study has three major limitations. First, we used archival data obtained from different sources. While primary data might have given us a better control over the definition of variables, it is less feasible for a small group of researchers to undertake a large scale cross-country data collection given the limited amount of resources and time. However, considering the fact that the data have been collected by reputable and authorized organizations, and the indices have been formulated using suitable statistical procedures to ensure the reliability and validity; relying on these secondary sources provides a cost-effective way for conducting our study. Second, we analyzed data only from the countries commonly available in all the primary sources. For instance, we could not include countries like Hong Kong and Taiwan as these countries were not commonly available in all the data sources. However, given that we have only seven main variables and sample size as 187, discarding few countries may not make a significant difference in the results. Further, bootstrapping approach to mediation with a sample size of 100 and above will detect fairly small R-square values (10%-15%) with up to 10 independent variables and a significance level of 0.05 [START_REF] Hair | Multivariate Data Analysis with Readings[END_REF]). Third, while e-participation scores for later years (e.g., 2010) are available, we used the scores from the UN Global E-Government Survey Report published in 2005 as the reports published in later years offered only an aggregate score for e-participation rather than scores for individual dimension within eparticipation. However, considering the fact that e-participation is still in a "nascent state" (UN-Report 2010), we believe that the concern for direction and strength of the relationship among variables (due to the usage of e-participation data from earlier report) would be minimal. Despite these potential limitations, our study is one among the few studies with macro-level orientation striving to address the knowledge gaps described in the earlier sections of this paper.

Future research may focus on several directions. First, while our study has mainly focused on the antecedents of e-government maturity, future studies may consider examining its consequences (i.e., payoffs). Further, researchers may also consider studying both antecedents and consequences jointly by integrating them cohesively in a unified theoretical framework (e.g., Srivatsava and Teo 2010). Second, given the differences in relationships between the dimensions of e-participation and egovernment maturity, future researchers may also test how the relationships are affected by introducing several contingency variables such as public institutions and macro-economy (e.g., Krishnan and Teo 2012; Srivatsava and Teo 2008).

Concluding Remarks

In conclusion, despite an extensive recognition on the importance of e-participation and e-government maturity in a nation as a predictor of its growth and performance, both research and practitioner communities knows relatively little with regards to managing e-government maturity. As an initial step to be taken towards raising awareness for the pivotal role of e-participation in managing e-government maturity, we have constructed and validated a theoretical model (specifically, a multiple mediation model) that examined the effects of the TOE contextual factors on eparticipation and e-government maturity. In addition, we reasoned and demonstrated empirically the relationships of different dimensions of e-participation on egovernment maturity, and the mediating role of e-participation variables on the relationships between TOE contextual factors and e-government maturity.

  The measures are: (1) voice and accountability; (2) political stability and absence of violence; (3) government effectiveness; (4) regulatory quality; (5) rule of law; and (6) control of corruption. Data for these measures were taken from the Worldwide Governance Indicators Database, and is for year 2003 (Kaufmann et al. 2010). These measures have been used in past academic studies like Krishnan and Teo (2012), and Meso et al. (2006).

Fig. 1 .

 1 Fig. 1. Regression results.

  R 2 = 78% (Adjusted R 2 = 77%); IV: Independent Variable; DV: Dependent Variable; MED: Mediators; COEF: Coefficient; TV: T-Value; PE: Point Estimate; BC: Bias-Corrected Bootstrap; CI: Confidence Interval; 'Total' is the total relation between independent variable and dependent variable without the consideration of other variables; 'CON (Contrast)' indicates if the indirect effects could be distinguished in terms of magnitude; EIS: E-Information Sharing; ECN: E-Consultation; EDM: E-Decision-Making; C1: E-Information Sharing vs. E-Consultation; C2: E-Information Sharing vs. E-Decision-Making; C3: E-Consultation vs. E-Decision-Making; ** p < 0.01 *** p < 0.001.

Table 1 .

 1 Descriptive statistics and correlations.

	Variable	Mean SD	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	1. EC a	7.75	1.63	-
	2. RD	2.72	1.16	-29	-
	3. ICT	0.18	0.21	72	-20	-
	4. HC	0.72	0.25	54	-25	50	-
	5. GOV	-0.08 0.91	71	-27	73	45	-
	6. EIS	0.22	0.23	56	-25	69	45	60	-
	7. ECN	0.13	0.22	46	-20	61	39	49	71	-
	8. EDM	0.13	0.19	50	-21	65	38	54	69	70	-
	9. EGM	28.01 4.61	66	-22	68	57	53	70	71	68
	Note: a Log transformed variable; N = 187; EC: Economic Condition; RD: Regional
	Difference; ICT: ICT Infrastructure; HC: Human Capital; GOV: Governance; EIS: E-
	Information Sharing; ECN: E-Consultation; EDM: E-Decision-Making; EGM: E-
	Government Maturity; Decimal points are omitted for correlations; All correlations
	(except underlined) are significant at p < 0.001 and underlined correlations are
	significant at p < 0.01.

Table 2 .

 2 Mediation results.

	Total Effect of IV on DV	Direct Effect of IV on DV	Indirect Effects
	COEF	TV	COEF	TV			PE	BC 95% CI Lower Upper
	Model 1: ICT Infrastructure as IV
	0.7801 *** 6.9609 0.2912 **	2.8892 Total		0.4974	0.3435	0.6783
						EIS	0.4965	0.2705	0.7601
					MED	ECN	-0.1800 -0.4219 -0.0066
						EDM	0.1809	0.0096	0.3756
						C1	0.6765	0.3281	1.1492
					CON	C2	0.3156	0.0220	0.6512
						C3	-0.3609 -0.7436 -0.0348
	Model 2: Human Capital as IV
	0.2374 *** 4.2752 0.1513 **	3.4035 Total		0.0861	0.0287	0.1543
						EIS	0.0932	0.0351	0.1769
					MED	ECN	-0.0298 -0.0774 -0.0008
						EDM	0.0226	0.0005	0.0664
						C1	0.1230	0.0477	0.2437
					CON	C2	0.0706	0.0130	0.1513
						C3	-0.0524 -0.1325 -0.0048
	Model 3: Governance as IV
	0.0318	1.2747 0.0068	0.3436 Total		0.0251 -0.0017	0.0562
						EIS	0.0230 -0.0009	0.0538
					MED	ECN	-0.0031 -0.0213	0.0060
						EDM	0.0051 -0.0042	0.0295
						C1	0.0260 -0.0044	0.0711
					CON	C2	0.0178 -0.0003	0.0454
						C3	-0.0082 -0.0459	0.0102
	Note: N = 187; 5000 bootstrap samples;