Unpacking the role of technology, leadership, governance and collaborative capacities in inter-agency collaborations

Abstract

Inter-agency collaboration is increasingly important for digital government. Using collaborative governance frameworks and comparative case study of three cases of digital government in the Mexican states of Mexico, Puebla, and Yucatan, we extend current understanding of key determinants of effective inter-agency collaborations in digital government settings. In particular, our research question is as follows: how do leadership, governance, technology, and collaborative capacity and competencies contribute to effective collaboration? Our results indicate that all four components are important, but in different ways. Laws and regulations appear to play an important role supporting governance of the inter-agency networks in our three cases. In addition, multi-level leadership, formal governance, implementation flexibility, the role of technology as a social actor in itself, and trust building based on expertise seem to be particularly salient.