Enhancing blockchain technology adoption in governmental operations: A comprehensive framework for user adoption

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors that affect Blockchain adoption in governmental operations in Sri Lanka and to propose a comprehensive adoption framework for Blockchain technology in the Sri Lankan governmental operations. The Technology- Organization-Environment (TOE) framework is utilized due to its capacity to capture the complexities of technological adoption in the public sector, addressing both internal (organizational) and external (environmental) factors that influence the adoption process. Given the structural, regulatory, and data sensitivity challenges of governmental settings, the TOE framework integrates employee insights from technological, organizational, and environmental perspectives, making it adaptable to the public sector's needs and scalable across various government entities. It also reflects the regulatory and operational requirements specific to the Sri Lankan public institutions, including essential compliance areas such as data privacy, security regulations, and government workflows, thereby offering a practical pathway for Blockchain adoption within the local context. This study employed statistical methods to ensure the validity and reliability of data collected through a structured questionnaire distributed to Grade I-IT Directors to capture their perceptions and experiences with Blockchain technology. Using the structural equation modelling (SEM), the study finds that all the technological, organizational, and environmental dimensions of the TOE framework are significantly associated with intention to adopt Blockchain technology in the Sri Lankan governmental operations. At a more specific level, trust, compatibility, security, higher authority support, monetary resources, rivalry pressure, and regulatory support were identified as significant predictors of adoption intention, while relative advantage, IT resources, and business partner pressure were not statistically significant, and firm size showed only weak support. These findings provide an empirically grounded framework for understanding Blockchain adoption intention in the Sri Lankan public sector and offer implications for future policy and implementation planning.