Objective This article explores the use of Internet, including social networks, e‐government services, and e‐commerce, from the perspective of the digital divide. First, it aims to find out what factors explain the digital divide. Second, the article aims to identify the groups that are digitally excluded. Method The article is based on survey data (N = 2,304) collected in Spain, which are analyzed using multiple regression, principal component analysis, and cluster analysis. Results Two dimensions are identified: the first is the comprehensive use of Internet and the second is the nature of this use, differentiating between a professional use and a recreational and social use of Internet. The article verifies that factors explaining the digital divide are age, education level, and income. Conclusions The article identifies digitally excluded segments, and the efforts and actions for digital training to eradicate the digital divide should be directed at these groups. The most serious problem is encountered in homeworkers who are mainly woman. NEETs (not in education, employment, or training) are frequent users of Internet, but they only use it for entertainment and to certain extent they are digitally excluded.

Abstract. Public procurement or tendering refers to the process followed by public authorities for the procurement of goods and services. In most developed countries, the law imposes public authorities to provide online information to ensure competitive tendering as far as possible, for which the adequate announcement of tenders is an essential requirement. In addition, transparency laws being proposed in such countries are making the monitoring of public contracts by citizens a fundamental right. This paper describes the PPROC ontology, which has been developed to give support to both processes, publication and accountability, by semantically describing public procurement processes and contracts. The PPROC ontology is extensive, since it covers not only the usual data about the tender, its objectives, deadlines, and awardees, but also details of the whole process, from the initial contract publication to its termination. This makes it possible to use the ontology for both open data publication purposes and for the overall management of the public contract procurement process.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse if citizens’ searches on the internet coincide with the services that municipal websites offer. In addition, the authors examine municipal webpage rankings in search engines and the factors explaining them. Design/methodology/approach The empirical study, conducted through a sample of Spanish city councils, contrasted if the information that can be found on a municipal website fits with citizens’ demands. This has been done by comparing the most-searched keywords with the contents of municipal websites. Findings A positive relationship between the supply and demand of municipal information on the internet has been found, but much can still be improved. Analysed administrations rank the basic data of the organisation, as well as some of the fundamental competences thereof, at the top in search engines, but the results are not entirely effective with some keywords still highly demanded by citizens, such as those related to employment or tourism. Factors explaining internet ranking include the number of pages of the municipal website, its presence in social networks and an indicator designed to measure the difficulty of ranking the municipal place-name. Originality/value The results obtained from this study provide valuable information for municipal managers. Municipal websites should not only include information in which citizens are interested, but achieve accessibility standards, have a responsive web design, and follow the rules of web usability. Additionally, they should be findable, which also requires improvement in terms of the design of the municipal website thinking in search engines, particularly in terms of certain technical characteristics that improve findability. A municipal website that wants to have a good positioning should increase its contents and attain the maximum degree possible of visibility in social networks.