Transnational digital government research collaborations: purpose, value, challenges

Abstract

Transnational networks involving government are emerging as an important feature of international relations. These networks generally involve public sector professionals and other actors in various domains acting at the sub-national level to share knowledge and information in order to better understand or address a problem that crosses national boundaries. These Transnational Public Sector Knowledge Networks (TPSKNs) are becoming increasingly important to address critical global issues and problems such as environmental quality or market regulation. While these networks are growing in number and diversity, so far we know little about the nature of these efforts and the factors that may promote or hinder their success. This panel focuses on TPSKNs as an emerging area within the domain of Digital Government (DG) research and practice. It highlights some of the challenges of conducting research in this area - particularly research that is both theoretically solid and useful to government. Panelists will share their goals and experiences from several such efforts and discuss with the audience the lessons learned so far and the future prospects for conducting this kind of work in the future.