The formation of inter-organizational information sharing networks in public safety: Cartographic insights on rational choice and institutional explanations

Issue title: Government Information Sharing and Integration: Combining the Social and the Technical. Papers from the 9th International Conference on Digital Government Research (d.g.o.2008)

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Williams, Christine B.^a | Dias, Martin^a | Fedorowicz, Jane^{a; *} | Jacobson, Dax^a | Vilvovsky, Sonia^a | Sawyer, Steve^b | Tyworth, Michael^c

Affiliations: [a] Bentley University, Waltham, MA, USA | [b] Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, USA | [c] The Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, USA

Correspondence: [*] Corresponding author: Bentley University, 175 Forest Street, Waltham, MA 02452, USA. Tel.: +1 781 891 3153; Fax: +1 781 891 2896; E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract: In this article we offer visual depictions and analysis of contextual factors relative to the presence of public safety networks (PSNs) in the United States (US). A PSN combines shared technological infrastructures for supporting information sharing, computing interoperability and interagency interactions involving policing, criminal justice, and emergency response. The broad research objective is to explain the formation of PSNs based upon factors derived from rational choice and institutional theories. To do so we develop maps to represent our data analysis. This analysis suggests that our approach is promising for generating insights about PSNs and, by extension, about other types of inter-organizational collaborations focusing on using information and communication technologies to enable information-sharing.

Keywords: Public safety, e-government, joined-up government, inter-organizational collaboration, information and communication technology, information sharing, rational choice theory, institutional theory

DOI: 10.3233/IP-2009-0170

Journal: Information Polity, vol. 14, no. 1-2, pp. 13-29, 2009