The discretionary space of geo–information and communication technology professionals in public sector cooperation programs

Innovations in interorganizational e-government projects in the public sector (G2Gs) tend to be shaped by the discretionary decisions of information and communication technology (ICT) professionals. Public sector managers who are insufficiently knowledgeable about the implications of such discretions can therefore not fully control the innovation. As a result, they risk being confronted with unintended results. To fully understand this quandary, there is a need to investigate the type of, variation in, and reasons for such professional discretions. This chapter conceptualizes discretions as adverse reactions to coordination requirements. The context in which the staff works further determines when, why, and how discretions emerge. Combining coordination requirements and context leads to a taxonomy of six discretions types. These are empirically evaluated in four G2G case studies in the Netherlands that rely on a specific ICT, namely, geoICT. Such “geoG2G” projects are considered particularly prone to discretions because the professional field of geoICT is so specific that the potential for uncontrollable professional discretions is even larger than average. Empirically, these discretions are visible through a set of indicators for each discretion type. The observed variation in the cases suggests that discretions in this field emerge as a result of a perceived complex environment, which exhibits both the need for staff members to simplify one’s own tasks and the need to closely adhere to the needs of external clients. These findings justify the need for a better understanding of discretions to decrease the dependency on these in ICT projects in the future, so that managing these projects effectively improves.