Towards a Taxonomy of Ecosystem Data Governance

Abstract

Despite being in competitive relations, organizations increasingly engage in data-centric collaborations to utilize access and provision to distributed data sources. Over time, these relations have evolved from dyadic relationships to the emergence of complex ecosystems. These ecosystems are characterized by multiple autonomous organizations that engage in data sharing to leverage data-driven innovation. For value propositions based on data to materialize, the configuration of data governance can provide fundamental control mechanisms that influence the design, dynamics and success of the collaboration. In the context of ecosystems, data governance is considered an under-researched topic. This paper investigates both concepts and identifies the main conceptual characteristics of ecosystem data governance. We develop a taxonomy of ecosystem data governance that comprises eight dimensions and twenty four characteristics to improve the conceptual understanding of data governance in data ecosystems.