Extending Virtual Organizations in the Public Sector: Lessons from CSCW, STS, and Organization Science

This paper explores current research around IT-related organizational change in the public sector, and in particular the emergence of "virtual organizations" (VOs) in government. We argue that despite their centrality to broader digital government visions, the tensions and challenges attending VO development remain a theoretical and empirical weak point in digital government scholarship to date. This paper draws on findings from the fields of Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), Science and Technology Studies (STS), and Organization Science to illuminate three central problems confronting the growth of public sector VOs: problems of distance, alignment, and resistance. Theoretically and empirically informed approaches to these problems promise to improve both understanding and practice of IT-related organizational change in government.