Enhancing Inter-Organizational Data Governance via Blockchain – Shaping Scopes and Research Avenues

Abstract

With increasing technological and competitive challenges, the number of inter-organizational networks that share data to improve performance constantly grows. Governing these inter-organizational environments is challenging. Nevertheless, inter-organizational data governance (IODG) is the linchpin of successful data sharing in collaborations. Simultaneously, the attention on blockchain technology steadily increases. Its decentralized nature and focus on transparency and trust make blockchain fascinating for practitioners and researchers in the context of data sharing. A symbiosis of IODG and blockchain is still lacking, although both concepts will become more critical in future. This paper aims to fill this gap and lay the foundation for future research in the context of blockchain and IODG. Four IODG modes are used as a research framework and are directly addressed via blockchain-based concepts within a grounded theory-based literature review to utilize the information systems (IS) body of knowledge. This paper also uncovers many research gaps for future IS research