A Local-State Government Spatial Data Sharing Partnership

A Local-State Spatial Data Sharing Partnership Model to Facilitate SDI Development
conflicting. Approaches to collaborative initiatives vary significantly and might be
focused on economic or resource approaches or organisational strategies. Collaboration
strategies generally require a structured process and can be influenced by a range of
contextual factors. Importantly, the process of collaboration was explored and provided a
useful insight into the stages of collaboration and its possible outcomes. Finally, the
concepts of successful collaboration and collaboration performance highlighted the need to
assess collaborative initiatives across a number of dimensions.
3.3 Partnerships – Models and Experiences
3.3.1 Introduction
As identified in the earlier sections of this chapter the process of collaboration may lead to
a variety of outcomes and models. Partnerships are emerging as a preferred model for
inter-organisational collaboration, particularly to facilitate the exchange of spatial data
across jurisdictional boundaries. Partnerships or alliances are generally at the higher end
of the collaboration continuum as identified in Table 3.2. These arrangements usually
operate through formal agreements and have specific goals. The purpose of this section is
to more clearly define partnerships, identify the various models which have emerged and
identify their common components and characteristics.
3.3.2 Partnerships Defined
There are many definitions of partnerships which have been put forward in the literature
ranging from operational to strategic in their perspectives. Lendrum (2000) provided a
broad definition of partnering from a more strategic perspective as:
“The co-operative development of successful, long term strategic relationships, based on
mutual trust, world-class and sustainable competitive advantage for all the partners;
relationships which have a further separate and positive impact outside the partnership/
alliance.” (Lendrum 2000, p. 7)
The definition is a useful starting point to position partnerships in relation to other
collaborative arrangements. Firstly, the term co-operative development infers that there is
a shared vision, some common goals and importantly the development of a level of trust
within the inter-organisation relations. The author indicates that the terms “successful,
strategic and long-term” are also important to emphasise and further clarify the scope and
objectives of the relationship. Inclusion of the word successful in the definition infers that
the performance of the partnership will be measured and monitored through some form of
performance indicator, either hard (economic) or soft (achievement of goals). The length
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