Panel: Regulation and governance in commons- based peer (social) production

In this paper we discuss the challenges of managing large-scale information infrastructures. Various\nmanagement models, such as the IT governance model, propose structured approaches for\nmanagement of an organization’s infrastructure. This paper argues both theoretically and empirically\nthat such an approach to information infrastructure governance has its limitations. The paper is based\non empirical material from three change processes in information infrastructures in the context of\nhealth care. We present case vignettes that illustrate how these processes evolved along unexpected\ntrajectories, subject to factors beyond the control of management. To conceptualize these phenomena\nwe draw on literature that conceptualize change as emerging from the meeting between multiple\nparallel streams of activities. The interactions between the various streams open up windows of\nopportunities that affect the information infrastructure development. We argue that such\nconceptualizations more realistically depict how large-scale information infrastructures evolve, and\nhence how they can be (or not be) managed.