Beyond technology: Exploring public value creation mechanisms and outcomes in platform-to-government data sharing

Inter-organizational interactions are widely recognized as essential for public value creation in digital government. While existing research shows that digital technologies facilitate cross-organizational data sharing and their potential for public value creation, less is known about how distinct public value is created when heterogeneous data enter digital government information systems. This study addresses this gap through an exploratory cross-case analysis of platform-to-government (P2G) data sharing. We find four distinct mechanisms and outcomes: (1) data-module matching enhances decision accuracy; (2) data-granularity alignment accelerates implementation across regions; (3) data-interface construction enables multidirectional coordination; and (4) data-ecosystem formation expands regulatory scope. The findings indicate that integrating platform data into government boundaries enables governments to leverage heterogeneous platform data to generate public value from information that may have previously been inaccessible or uninterpretable. Platforms help bridge different government information systems as non-institutional intermediaries and transform public value creation beyond conventional bureaucratic logic. However, unselective data sharing may result in information overload and excessive costs. Rational public value creation therefore requires beyond-technology design principles that ensure best-fit P2G data sharing arrangements. • P2G data sharing infuses government information systems with heterogeneous data. • Coupling heterogeneous data with four configurations creates public values. • Platforms bridge different governments as non-institutional intermediaries. • Platform data fosters public value beyond conventional bureaucratic logic. • Beyond-technology design principles for data sharing mitigate overload and costs.