Engaging Government Agencies in Digital Government Research

Panelists:
€ Moderator: Sharon Dawes, Center for Technology in Government, University at Albany/SUNY, sdawes@ctg.albany.edu
€ Lise Prefontaine, University of Quebec at Montreal
€ Marianne Koch, Oregon Graduate Institute
€ Meghan Cook, University at Albany

The digital government workshop report, ³Some Assembly Required: Building a Digital Government for the 21st Century,² identified as one of eight critical research areas, the need to better match research resources to government needs. The report describes the problem in this way:

Government agencies often will not or cannot wait for the results of traditional research to affect their decisions. On the other hand, useful research findings often go unnoticed because the form and outlets in which they are disseminated are unknown or unattractive to practitioners. The most valuable forms of research must involve a variety of activities that lead to ideas that government can use directly. They also demand research relationships that benefit both researchers and practitioners.

This panel presented three projects that address some of the specific approaches to and discussed the challenges and benefits of ³engaged² research, including:
€ What methodological innovations can speed the production of research results and the dissemination of useful knowledge?
€ What are the characteristics of successful partnerships between government agencies and academic researchers?
€ What institutional relationships between higher education and government lead to relevant and timely research for government use?
€ What methods can researchers employ to better anticipate the future knowledge needs of government?