Digitalization of tax and customs administration and the oversight of public-private partnership contracts: Cross-country evidence and Kazakhstan’s special-purpose audit context

This study aims to assess how much digital skills are prioritized in public sector recruitment and identify key competency gaps among civil servants. A mixed-methods approach was employed, combining quantitative content analysis of 408 job postings from the official e-qyzmet.kz platform and an online survey among 200 “B” corps civil servants in central and regional government bodies. Survey participants were selected using purposive and nested sampling, with balanced regional representation. The findings reveal that 66.9% of job postings do not specify digital skills as a requirement, and 60% of surveyed civil servants reported that digital competencies were not mandatory for employment. Furthermore, 54.5% of respondents encountered difficulties in using government digital systems due to either a lack of experience or inadequate training. Regional government employees face greater barriers to accessing digital training than central agencies. Despite ongoing e-government initiatives, 56.5% of civil servants have never received formal digital skills training after being hired. These results highlight a misalignment between Kazakhstan’s digital transformation strategy and actual human capital development in the civil service. They emphasize an urgent need to introduce a standardized competency framework and structured digital skill assessments in civil service recruitment and training. Addressing these gaps is essential to strengthening digital governance and ensuring that civil servants are adequately prepared to operate in an increasingly digital administrative environment.

Acknowledgments
This study is funded by the Committee of Science of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan (No. BR21882308) within the framework of program-targeted funding “Evolution of political institutions and structures in the history of Kazakhstan (XIX–XXI centuries).”

The citizen acceptance of e-government is widely researched in industrialized nations; however, only a few studies have looked at the adoption of e-government in developing nations, including Indonesia. This study aims to identify the elements influencing Indonesian citizens’ acceptance of electronic governance. The following models are suggested to achieve this purpose: the information system success model (ISSM) and the technology adoption model (TAM). The sample includes 735 respondents in Indonesia; the self-selection convenience sampling technique was used in this study. The findings indicated that perceived usefulness is positively impacted by system quality (β = 0.113; p < 0.05), information quality (β = 0.502; p < 0.05), and service quality (β = 0.285; p < 0.05). Furthermore, considering the TAM model, perceived usefulness (β = 0.762; p < 0.05) has a favorable impact on intentions to use e-government, and intention to use (β = 0.502; p < 0.05) favorably influences user behavior. The findings of this study advance theoretical knowledge by developing and validating an integrated model for the effect of e-government adoption, information quality, system quality, and service quality on perceived usefulness. Risks may be lessened by enhancing the systems and capabilities that enable citizens to use e-government. Additionally, this paper offers various recommendations for improving and promoting e-government in Indonesia.

E-government is the use of internet platforms to deliver governmental services to citizens with the goal of improving government efficiency, transparency, and participation. This study aims to find out what factors determine the rate at which public university in Indonesians accept e-government services. This study uses the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). TAM is a traditional model of technology diffusion that is an essential conceptual criterion. It drives acceptance consisting of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. The results of this paper back up the original TAM hypothesis. Based on the data collected and analyzed, the study concludes that three influencing factors, namely perceived usefulness (PU), perceived ease of use (PEU), and perceived risk (PR), are significantly related to the intention to use e-commerce government. However, trust and social influence do not significantly affect the intention to use e-government services. This paper has significant implications for policymakers and government officials who want to see the growth of e-government usage in Indonesia. When attempting to market a new online system from the perspective of human-computer interaction, it becomes evident that designers must consider how users perceive the risks.