A close collaboration between infrastructure owners is crucial to address challenges in the design and execution of next-generation infrastructure projects for sustainable development. Managing and sharing data among parties involved in infrastructure projects, particularly the data required at the early stages of a project to design and develop an interconnected infrastructure project, appear to play a critical role in inter-organizational collaboration (IOC), but are often overlooked. In the present work, the status of collaboration and data sharing between infrastructure owners in inter-organizational infrastructure projects is studied to enhance our understanding of the relationship between collaboration and data sharing in horizontal IOCs. Explorative semi-structured interviews with practitioners were conducted at organizational and project levels in the infrastructure sectors in The Netherlands. The outcomes revealed that the theoretical benefits of IOC are not realized in practice and that managing and sharing data between infrastructure owners in inter-organizational projects (IOP) face many challenges. The findings suggest that collaboration and data sharing are interrelated in horizontal IOCs and are deemed crucial for the execution of IOPs. The findings of the present study demonstrate the importance of the bilateral relationship between effective collaboration and data sharing and provide an enhanced insight into horizontal forms of IOC and practices of next-generation infrastructure development.

This study aims to identify which factors affect inter-organizational collaboration (IOC) in interconnected infrastructure projects to enable practitioners to establish a collaborative environment at the project level. This specific form of inter-organizational collaboration (IOC) is characterized as “horizontal” and has received limited attention in the literature. To this end, a systematic literature review and Q-methodology were conducted. The Q-methodology involves practitioners from various infrastructure organizations in the Netherlands gaining insights into their perspectives on IOC in interconnected infrastructure projects. The study identifies two perspectives: a “holistic, goal-oriented” perspective that recognizes various dimensions of IOC and a more “people-oriented” perspective that emphasizes the value of individual factors for IOC. The findings suggest that multiple perspectives on collaboration exist among practitioners, potentially affecting collaboration in interconnected infrastructure projects. Awareness of the need to manage practitioners’ perspectives, and addressing and discussing these differences, can stimulate inter-organizational collaboration and contribute to improved project performance.