Kiran Garimella, Shivendu Shivendu, Richard Ring
Inter-agency information sharing is central to effective public administration in national security contexts, yet tensions between confidentiality, authorization, and accountability hinder collaboration. While prior research examines administrative determinants, organizational trust, or blockchain-enabled mechanisms in isolation, the literature lacks an integrated digital governance architecture that embeds enforceable controls directly into public-sector information infrastructures. This study investigates whether administrative processes, organizational behavior, and technology-mediated trust are perceived as key determinants of effective inter-agency information sharing. A survey of thirty professionals across U.S. defense, intelligence, and law enforcement contexts provides empirical support for the importance of these governance dimensions. Building on these findings, we propose a conceptual blockchain-enabled governance architecture, the National Security Intelligence Chain (NSIC), that operationalizes authorization, classification enforcement, traceability, and accountability at the infrastructure level. By embedding governance rules into digital infrastructure, the proposed framework advances accountable and auditable inter-agency coordination in public administration.