Developing government-to-government enterprises in Brazil: a heuristic model drawn from multiple case studies

Abstract

Recently, various governments have seized the moment provided by information and communication technology as the ideal opportunity to rethink and reformulate their administrative praxis. This restructuring concentrates not only on the internal aspects involved, but also on those related to the relationship between government and other organizations, social groups, and/or citizens. The digitally-enabled collaboration and cooperation perspective among different government agencies - commonly referred to by the acronym Government-to-Government (G2G)-is the main focus of this study. Consequently, this work seeks to analyze the key factors for successful implementation of G2G projects, as well as to establish the main obstacles to the deployment of such enterprises and the associated causes and possible solutions thereto, so as to avoid potential drawbacks and overcome all hurdles. In order to achieve this, multiple case study explanatory methodology based on two recent real-life cases was adopted, namely the digital link between the Brazilian Central Bank and the Federal Senate, and another digital link between the Brazilian Central Bank and the Brazilian Justice Department. From these case studies, a heuristic model is proposed for successful implementation of G2G endeavors. Finally, some conclusions are drawn and further research is presented in order to assist policy makers and public administrators in dealing with this new field of knowledge adequately. © 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.