Generative Information Infrastructure Architectures. A Longitudinal Study of eHealth Infrastructures in Norway

This paper investigates the role of architectures in information infrastructures. We find that a key dimension is lacking in the extant architectural theorizing: the relations between an IIs’ architecture and structures in the user and development organizations/communities. Further, we find that an II’s architecture needs to change over time. We suggest the concept of generative architecture to frame a more comprehensive understanding of the role of architecture. Our empirical evidence is seven cases from the health sector, collected over a period of 25 years. Our analysis allowed us to identify two main architectural approaches; the Application Centric Architecture (ACA) and the Communication System Centric Architecture (CSCA). Through the careful study of the cases, we present evidence that CSCA architecture is more generative in the early phase of an II’s evolution, while the ACA seems more successful and generative in later phases. The theoretical contribution is the concept of generative architecture. A generative architecture is one that is bootstrapable, adoptable, adaptable and extensible; has generative fit with (generative) development and user collectives.