Development and Preliminary Validation of a Digitalization Acceptance Measurement Instrument for Omani Public-Sector Organizations

Abstract

Adopting digitalization has become a urgent necessity for organization globally. In the Oman public-sector institutions digitalization has become a primary objective, a cornerstone of development and improvement, and a fundamental pillar of comprehensive development.  Digitalization is not merely a technological shift; it is a socio-organizational process that depends heavily on employee acceptance and institutional readiness. This study aims to develop and validate a tool for measuring and evaluating the extent of digitalization acceptance among public sector employees in the Sultanate of Oman.  The study employed a quantitative approach, and based on this, a measurement instrument was developed. It also drew upon the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) and the Theory of Resistance of Change. The validity, followed by pilot testing involving 77 employees from government institutions in the Sultanate Oman. Data analysis included the Content Validity Index (CVI), Fleiss’ Kappa Coefficient, Cronbach’s alpha, and the Shapiro-Wilk test.   The results showed a satisfactory level of content validity, a high level of language clarity, inter-rater agreement, and internal consistency reliability. Most instrument items achieved acceptable I-CVI values, while the overall S-CVI values indicated strong scale-level validity. The pilot test further confirmed the acceptable reliability and preliminary distributional properties of the measurement tool.  This study contributes to the limited research in the field of psychometric validation related to the digitalization acceptance in Sultanate of Oman and the Arab public-sector contexts. This validated tool provides an additional new framework for future empirical research and policy evaluation in Omani government institutions.