GeoICT Uniformity in Flexibility: Analysis of the influence of geoICT coordination on the cooperation between public organisations with geoICT

This chapter begins with an empirical case where various public sector organisations in the Netherlands have cooperated with a particular type of technology, geoICT, since 1996. Throughout this document, GeoICT refers to the collection of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) based systems allowing the study of natural and man-made phenomena with an explicit bearing in space (de By, 2004:15). Specific to ‘geo-’ICT is that it creates and manipulates ‘geospatial data.’ Similarly to other types of ICT, it has only partly affected the four spheres of government: policy, politics, public organisation, citizens (Zouridis and Thaens, 2005). However ‘Geo-’ICT has the potential to influence the public organisation beyond the operational core of public administration (ibid.). Section 1.2 begins from this assumption and presents the case. Section 1.3 follows with a conceptual analysis of this case, to derive a set of basic research questions. Section 1.4 formulates these research questions. Section 1.5 explains the approach with which these research questions are addressed. Section 1.6 describes the position of this research in relation to three research domains: geo-information science, public administration and organisational science. Section 1.7 provides a summary of the section and its relation to the subsequent chapters.