dg.o2005 Tutorial: "Building Working Partnerships: Government and the Academy"

Presenter: Dr. Stuart Shulman, Assistant Professor in Information Sciences and Public Administration at the University of Pittsburgh

Scheduled: 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday, May 18 | REGISTER NOW

Description
Successful Digital Government research requires vital and reliable working partnerships between government personnel and an interdisciplinary academic research community. The annual dg.o meetings are one avenue for formalizing relations between communities that structurally face dissimilar imperatives. However, much of the effort and strategy required to build and sustain working partnerships is predicated on informal, semi-formal and highly structured contacts in venues other than dg.o meetings. This tutorial explores the task of a Digital Government research project director, which foremost is to lay the groundwork for meaningful links between government and a wider than usual range of actors from the academy.

Goal
Experienced and first time Digital Government PIs, government personnel, and graduate students are the target audience. From the point of first contact, through regular meetings, and ultimately planning for technology transfer, this tutorial will map out the building blocks of successful dg.o-style relationships. In addition, small group exercises will be utilized to identify alternative models and commonplace pitfalls when starting or sustaining these partnerships. The tutorial will conclude with the development of an inventory of "best practices" for conducting successful Digital Government research amid the competing priorities of multi-agency government and multi-disciplinary academic work.

Outline
1) Introductions
2) Overview of the Session
3) First Contact: Challenges and Opportunities
    a) Finding the right people to work with
    b) Finding the right domain, data, and problem
4) Informal and Semi-Formal Contacts
    a) Networking as a social endeavor
5) Building Formal Relationships
    a) Mini-workshops
    b) Focus groups & reports
6) Small Group Exercises & Development of the Best Practices Inventory

Brief Bio
Dr. Stuart W. Shulman is an Assistant Professor in Information Sciences and Public Administration at the University of Pittsburgh. He is a Senior Research Associate in the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Social and Urban Research and in the Université de Genève, European Union Institute, and Oxford Internet Institute-based E-Democracy Centre. Dr. Shulman is the Principal Investigator and Project Director on several related National Science Foundation-funded research projects focusing on electronic rulemaking, digital citizenship, and service-learning efforts in the United States. Over the last four years, he has been the organizer and chair for federal agency-level electronic rulemaking workshops held at the Council for Excellence in Government (2001), the National Defense University (2002), the National Science Foundation (2003), and The George Washington University (2004). For the last two years, Dr. Shulman has served on the Program Committee for the NSF's National Conference on Digital Government Research.

Dr. Shulman is a Contributing Editor for the international Journal of E-Government and the 2004-2005 President of the American Political Science Association's organized section on Information Technology & Politics. He teaches courses on American national government, environmental policy, digital citizenship, service-learning, and film and politics.

Contact Information
Dr. Stuart W. Shulman
Assistant Professor
Information Sciences and Public Administration
Senior Research Associate
University Center for Social and Urban Research
University of Pittsburgh
121 University Place, Suite 600
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
412.624.3776 (v) 412.624.4810 (f)