Electronic information sharing in local government authorities: factors influencing the decision-making process

Ali Ziaee Bigdeli, Muhammad Mustafa Kamal*, Sergio de Cesare

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Local Government Authorities (LGAs) are mainly characterised as information-intensive organisations. To satisfy their information requirements, effective information sharing within and among LGAs is necessary. Nevertheless, the dilemma of Inter-Organisational Information Sharing (IOIS) has been regarded as an inevitable issue for the public sector. Despite a decade of active research and practice, the field lacks a comprehensive framework to examine the factors influencing Electronic Information Sharing (EIS) among LGAs. The research presented in this paper contributes towards resolving this problem by developing a conceptual framework of factors influencing EIS in Government-to-Government (G2G) collaboration. By presenting this model, we attempt to clarify that EIS in LGAs is affected by a combination of environmental, organisational, business process, and technological factors and that it should not be scrutinised merely from a technical perspective. To validate the conceptual rationale, multiple case study based research strategy was selected. From an analysis of the empirical data from two case organisations, this paper exemplifies the importance (i.e. prioritisation) of these factors in influencing EIS by utilising the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) technique. The intent herein is to offer LGA decision-makers with a systematic decision-making process in realising the importance (i.e. from most important to least important) of EIS influential factors. This systematic process will also assist LGA decision-makers in better interpreting EIS and its underlying problems. The research reported herein should be of interest to both academics and practitioners who are involved in IOIS, in general, and collaborative e-Government, in particular.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)816-830
Number of pages15
JournalInternational Journal of Information Management
Volume33
Issue number5
Early online date20 Jul 2013
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2013

Keywords

  • electronic information sharing
  • G2G collaboration
  • information integration
  • local government authority
  • socio-technical factor

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