Cloud computing in eGovernment: Proposing a conceptual stage model

Electronic Government (eGovernment) is currently facing significant challenges particularly due to the economic crisis which suggests governments should provide more with fewer resources. During the last few years, cloud computing emerged as a new computing paradigm with significant potential. The use of cloud computing in eGovernment has inevitably attracted significant attention from the research community. However, views of researchers and practitioners about the ways and the extent to which cloud computing can be adopted at the national level in order to facilitate eGovernment vary notably. The aim of this paper is to map cloud computing adoption by governments. For this purpose, a stage model was developed by employing the thematic analysis method based on both academic and grey literature. The proposed model is applicable at the national level and consists of four stages: ad-hoc eGov cloud solutions, cloud-based public services, eGov cloud(s) and diffusion of cloud computing in eGov. It should be noted that at this phase the authors' research is of an exploratory nature thus the model has not been validated with empirical data. Its purpose is to facilitate further research on the topic and help governments determine their progress in adopting cloud computing.