Flexible information infrastructures in Dutch E-Government collaboration arrangements: Experiences and policy implications

How can the flexibility of an information architecture in E-Government collaboration arrangements – defined as a set of multi-rational agreements – be achieved, if one acknowledges the fact that the use of ICT may automate the status quo between organizations which work together in a policy chain? Research shows that flexibility cannot be achieved by only looking at technological requirements and agreements. Other agreements should be considered which express multiple (political, legal and economic) design rationalities and values. Moreover, flexibility is also influenced by the structure and dynamics of the power and trustworthiness of the relationships between the organizations involved. This implies that E-Government policies should focus not only on the technical aspects of information exchange infrastructures, but on the politics of collaboration.