What Data Sharing in Government Tells Us about the Digitalization of Government Services

Qualitative research provides an excellent opportunity to study digitalization. The purpose of this chapter is to explore the digitalization of government services by studying the longitudinal development data-sharing practices across different parts of government in the United Kingdom. This chapter reports on a unique, qualitative, interpretive field study based on the author’s role as a participant observer and his analysis of the discourse and contents of the various documents presented in relation to both the creation and running of data-sharing practices in the United Kingdom. The chapter finds that despite government addressing many of the concerns identified in the literature on data sharing, practical and perceptual issues remain – issues that tell us much about the state of digitalization of government services.