ABSTRACT
As the role of information and communications technologies (ICTs) grows, governments have seen the Geoweb and Web 2.0 as an opportunity to increase citizen involvement through e-government which provides citizens with the ability to record and share information. 311 services represent citizens’ most direct contact with local governments in the form of volunteered geographic information (VGI) empowering citizens with the means of solving community issues. Past studies have examined VGI and e-government use finding patterns of a digital divide with survey data; yet, further research which allows for the visualization of these patterns using citizen-generated data is needed to understand the link between users and the content they create. This paper seeks to explore the relationship between sociodemographic status and 311 service request frequency in three cities within the United States using geographic information systems (GIS) and regression analysis. Results suggest the potential existence of a digital divide and that the demographic profile of a city plays a role in participation in e-government.
