Public-private collaboration in the emergence of a national electronic identification policy: The case of NemID in Denmark

Abstract

Governments envisioning large-scale national e-government policies increasingly draw on collaboration with private actors, yet the relationship between dynamics and outcomes of public-private partnership (PPP) is still unclear. The involvement of the banking sector in the emergence of a national electronic identification (e-ID) in Denmark is a case in point. Drawing on an analysis of primary and secondary data, we adopt the theoretical lens of collective action to investigate how transformations over time in the convergence of interests, the interdependence of resources, and the alignment of governance models between government and the banking sector shaped the emergence of the Danish national e-ID. We propose a process model to conceptualize paths towards the emergence of public-private collaboration for digital information infrastructure - a common good.