Date of Award

Summer 2016

Degree Type

Open Access Dissertation

Degree Name

Management of Information System and Technology, PhD

Program

School of Information Systems and Technology

Concentration

Geographic Information Systems

Second Concentration

e-Government

Advisor/Supervisor/Committee Chair

Thomas Horan

Dissertation or Thesis Committee Member

Brian Hilton

Dissertation or Thesis Committee Member

Tamir Bechor

Terms of Use & License Information

Terms of Use for work posted in Scholarship@Claremont.

Rights Information

© 2015 Omer A. Alrwais

Keywords

Geographic Information Systems, GIS Evaluation, Local Government, Maturity Models, Organizational Perspective, System Usage

Subject Categories

Management Information Systems | Other Computer Sciences

Abstract

The first condition required for an Information Technology (IT) system to produce value is that it be used by its designated target group of users. Despite the prevalence of “system use” in IS literature, it has been often limited to the individual level. The organizational perspective is rarely considered. This dissertation focuses on system usage in the GIS domain through an organizational lens. GIS is a technology with the potential to transform government by enhancing business processes and providing a platform to manage spatial and non-spatial data, which is expected to result in better decision-making. However, little is known about how this technology is actually implemented organization-wide and the environment surrounding its use. Current GIS maturity models have not examined this usage broadly or in depth. These models lack empirical validation and measurement tools to diagnose maturity are not readily available. Based on GIS, maturity models, and system usage literature, this dissertation presents a more comprehensive maturity model for evaluating local government usage of GIS along with a measurement tool. This work followed De Bruin et al., (2005) guidelines for developing maturity models. This new model was discussed with practitioners and academics, was pilot-tested, and then widely tested by Southern California local governments through an online questionnaire. Results show support for the validity of the proposed maturity model and demonstrate its utility. This dissertation revealed that system, task, user, organization and GIS department are viable dimensions of GIS usage from an organizational perspective. Results suggest that increasing actual GIS usage leads to an increase in GIS value. Results further show that the efficiency and effectiveness benefits of GIS are mostly realized; however, the societal benefits of GIS are small.

DOI

10.5642/cguetd/100

Download

Share

COinS