The Mediating Role of Trust for Inter-Organizational Information Sharing (IIS) Success in the Public Sector

Interagency collaboration and information sharing in the public sector is a complex enterprise laden with risks. In this type of environment, past studies find that trust is key to the success of inter-organizational information sharing (IIS) initiatives. Based on a review of current literature and a national survey conducted in the US, this paper quantitatively explores the role of trust in mediating the relationship between multiple variables and the success in IIS. Overall, we found that trust is significant in mediating the relationships among four determinants of IIS success, namely: a) effective communication, b) clarity about their roles and responsibilities and expectations about other participants' roles and responsibilities, c) competence inferred from past experiences, and d) judicious exercise of formal authority, which reduces participants' uncertainty and anxiety about the project. Furthermore, our analysis indicates that the role of trust in mediating the relationships depends on how success is measured in an IIS project. Testing the roles that trust plays through statistical analysis makes an important contribution to the literature, as well as to government practice.