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The growth of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) such as mobile communication technology has transformed and continues to transform the way businesses, individuals and societies, and governments interacts with each other. Particularly, government service design and delivery have been transformed because of the advancement in mobile technology. The advent of mobile technology has been instrumental in the shift from Electronic Government (e-government) to Mobile Government (m-government), which refers to the use of mobile technology in the provision of government services (Abdelhakim & Idoughi, 2021; Sheng & Trimi, 2008; Zahid, Ashraf, Malik, & Hoque, 2013). Because of the widespread use and low cost of mobile devices, the mobile government is seen as easier to use, multipurpose, and proficient way to facilitate and ensure that information about government services can be obtained as and when needed (Al-Hubaishi, Ahmad, & Hussain, 2017; Sheng & Trimi, 2008). Accordingly, Lallana (2004) has noted that m-government can, therefore, be comprehended as part of e-government.
Mobile government services can be categorized by sectors including education, tourism emergency, law enforcement, and healthcare services (Aloudat & Michael, 2011; Berg, Pokharel, Sweetland, & Modi, 2013; Hu, Chen, Hu, Larson, & Butierez, 2011; Vincent & Harris, 2008). Mobile government can transform the nature of public services particularly in terms of the number of people it can reach and serve without any geographical limitations and regardless of the deficiency of the connected infrastructure as well as the social backgrounds of citizens (Sheng & Trimi, 2008; Trimi & Sheng, 2008; Nardelli, 2015). M-government implementation also decreases or removes the digital divide among citizens and thus enables immediate access to services provided by the government (Sheng & Trimi, 2008). Also, while mobile government can increase the work output of government employees, it can encourage greater involvement of the public in the policy decisions of the government and its affiliated agencies. M-government empowers citizens to express their opinions and offer important inputs and suggestions into crucial issues that affect them (Al-Momani, Mahmoud, & Ahmad, 2019; Sheng & Trimi, 2008).
The study investigates the moderating impact of context-awareness and mobile factor ubiquity on the adoption of mobile government services. Specifically, the direct and indirect effect of content-awareness and ubiquity on both PU and PEOU on mobile government adoption is examined. The key characteristics of mobile technology which make it appropriate for the delivery of government services include its flexibility, ubiquity, transferability, adaptability, location management, and user-friendliness (Ntaliani, Costopoulou, & Karetsos, 2008; Prakash, Jaiswal, & Gulla, 2009; Ramsay & Clark, 1990; Trimi & Sheng, 2008). Of these features, context awareness and ubiquity are the very important features of mobile technology development particularly in the context of mobile government development and diffusion. Context-awareness refers to the potential of a software application to adopt per its position of use, the identification and gathering of people and items in proximate, and modifies to reflect these subjects/items (Dey, 2001, 2018; Schilit, Adams, & Want, 1994). Context-awareness of the mobile government has to do with the designing of mobile government computing technologies that can adapt rapidly to the user changing context when the user interacts with mobile government platforms in diverse locations.