Interagency government data sharing (IDS) is an indispensable precondition for the development of citizen-centred smart government. Adopting a theory of territoriality, this paper reports on an on-going research investigation, which explores, identifies, and qualifies the barriers to the lack of IDS.Methods. The research adopts an inductive approach, which combines a critical literature review, and three case studies in Central China. 118 articles, and 45 government officials and data managers from three regional government agencies collected as interview data were included and analysed using a thematic approach. Interorganisational dynamism affects the formulation of individual agencies’ psychological ownership on data, which leads to territorial marking and defending behaviours against IDS. Territoriality theory offers a novel and useful perspective to interpret, understand and resolve IDS problems. Albeit this research is situated in China, the research findings offer valuable indications and insights that can be shared across international borders.Peer Reviewe
