Information systems and evidence-based policy in multi-agency networks: The micro-politics of situated innovation

The global prevalence of public sector reform, generically dubbed the New Public Management, offers wide-ranging research challenges for the IS field. This paper addresses two important, though neglected, strands of the modernisation agenda, evidence-based policy and partnership work. The development of a Geographical Information System (known as MADE) to support multi-agency collaboration is described in the domain of crime reduction. The application of MADE to support policy work is contrasted in two local partnership contexts: the statutorily constituted Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership, and an ad hoc forum instigated by the police to address the specific issue of licensing reform and its impact on alcohol-related violence. Although the GIS infrastructure is the same, the manifestation of EBP was markedly different. This is interpreted in terms of differences in the situated micro-politics of the two settings. In the former, strong regulation by central government has “translated” MADE into a tool for generating performance targets and indicators. The second setting comes much closer to the true spirit of EBP, reflecting the greater autonomy of the network and the strong commitment both to evidence and partnership of its main player. In general, the findings demonstrate the importance of GIS to the policy process, particularly in the domain of multi-agency partnerships. There are a broad range of opportunities for IS research within the modernisation project. The need for ethnographic studies of change at a local level is highlighted, and for the adoption of a more critical stance than has been characteristic of mainstream eGovernment research to date.