What does this research mean for the field?

Free internet access significantly boosts e-government service utilization in South African townships, increasing usage by 35% compared to the general population. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.SYNTHESIS. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.NEUTRAL.

What question did this study set out to answer?

This review aims to explore how free internet access affects the use of e-government services in South African townships.

February 22, 2026Open Access

The Impact of Free Internet Access on E-Government Service Use in South African Townships: A Systematic Literature Review

Key Points

This review aims to explore how free internet access affects the use of e-government services in South African townships.
Conducted a systematic literature review on relevant studies.
Applied rigorous inclusion criteria and thematic analysis.
Included model estimation for performance evaluation.
Found a 35% increase in e-government service use with free internet access.
Observed significant boost in utilization among township residents.
Identified persistent disparities despite improvements in access.

Abstract

The digital divide in South Africa's townships exacerbates disparities in e-government service use. A comprehensive search strategy was employed to identify relevant studies, ensuring rigorous inclusion criteria and thematic analysis. Findings suggest a moderate increase (35%) in e-government service use among those with free internet access compared to the general population. Free internet access significantly boosts e-government service utilization in township residents, though disparities persist. Public policies should prioritise infrastructure development and digital literacy programmes targeting disadvantaged communities. Model estimation used =argmin_ᵢ (yᵢ, f_ (xᵢ) ) +₂², with performance evaluated using out-of-sample error.

Read Full Paperexternally

Ask AI

Helpful

Bookmark

View Full Paper