Digital administration and the role of trust

Abstract

In this article we will argue that trust is an important factor in establishing new forms of digital administration. ICT is an enabler for the innovation of boundary-crossing processes. However, the more public administrations collaborate and integrate their processes through the use of ICT, the more interdependent and vulnerable they will become. In order to accept a growing interdependence and vulnerability administrations have to trust each other. Two Belgian cases, the Crossroads Bank for Social Security and the Crossroads Bank for Companies show the role that trust plays in a context of digital administration. The attention that was given to the creation of trust between the different administrations involved made or broke the success of the two projects.