Factors Influencing Business-to-Government Information-Sharing Arrangements

Abstract

The urgent need to improve public services and increase the adoption of cutting-edge technology in public organizations has promoted and encouraged collaboration between private and public organizations, thus allowing for more information to be shared between both parties. However, many issues arise that hinder the implementation of information-sharing, ranging from a lack of information quality to organizational resistance to sharing information due to uncertainty of the benefits or a lack of top-level management support. To address these challenges and to realize the benefits of business-to-government (B2G) information-sharing, it is necessary to understand how to arrange B2G information-sharing.
This research contributes scientifically and practically to the B2G information-sharing domain by proposing the concept of information-sharing arrangements through system architecture and governance structure lenses and analyzing the factors that influence such arrangements. The discussions include when to use a centralized topology or in what situations decentralized information-sharing is preferred, why there are mandatory and voluntary information-sharing, and in which situation consensus-based or hierarchical-based decision-making are needed. In addition, the role of trust among sharing partners, technological requirements, organizational readiness, and other factors identified as potentially influencing information-sharing arrangements were also discussed.
By understanding the arrangements and factors influencing them, B2G information-sharing actors can select the most suitable arrangements and potentially increase the adoption of information-sharing initiatives.