icegov2012 proceedings

ecause the majority of the shared information in the case study is
data-oriented information and is subject to being updated daily.
Even though some information receivers may retain the acquired
information, the information still soon becomes obsolete and
inaccurate.
The interviewees agree that when two government agencies are
co-located, their information sharing initiative may benefit from
the better and closer social and personal network among them.
However, the interviewees do not consider the geographic
locations of government agencies an important factor in the case
study. The interviewees point out that, with the advancement of
information technologies, cross-boundary information sharing is
no longer obstructed by geographic limitations. The interviewees
also state that Taiwan is small so that geographic location is not
the major concern.
Overall, from an organizational perspective, the paper takes a
deeper look at the complexity of inter-agency information sharing.
The observed influential factors provide insights to researchers
and also practitioners. The paper also contributes to the current
information-sharing literature from an international perspective.
In addition, while open data has become an important
governmental movement in recent years, open data can be viewed
as one type of cross-boundary information sharing among
government agencies and the public including individuals and
businesses. Some of the identified factors in the paper can be
applied to explain the behaviors of government agencies
participating in open data initiatives. Future research can focus
more on other perspectives including technology, legislation and
policy, and surrounding environment to provide a more complete
and integrated discussion to understand the complexity of crossboundary
information sharing among government agencies.
7. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author wants to thank Dr. Yu-Hsieh Sung, the Minister of the
Research, Development and Evaluation Commission and other
government officials of the Taiwan government for their
important help during the interviewee recruitment of the research.
The author is also thankful for all the interviewees participating in
the research for their time, patience, and valuable information and
suggestions.
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