Collaborative Digital Government in Mexico: Some Lessons from Federal Web-Based Inter-Organizational Information Integration Initiatives

摘要

The use of information and communication technologies in government has been characterized as one powerful strategy for administrative reform. From recent experiences around the world, it seems clear that in order to achieve some of the most prominent benefits of digital government the integration of information across organizational boundaries is necessary and these projects have been called "collaborative digital government". However, these collaborative digital government initiatives face additional challenges, since many times, the required level of inter-organizational collaboration and trust is not supported by the existing institutional arrangements and management structures. In fact, many institutions found in government contexts offer incentives for single-agency work only, which produces stove-pipe systems. Based on an extensive case study in the Mexican federal government, this paper explores how certain institutions can enable or hinder cross-agency collaboration and consequently, inter-organizational information integration.