Committee Charters

Communications Committee

The Society is committed to clear communications and open dialog with members and related individual and organizations. The Communications Committee is responsible for furthering these goals by:

• Reviewing how other societies deal with communications matters and identifying good practices to emulate
• Refining the purpose and content categories of the initial Society Web site
• Defining the purpose and content categories of an on-line newsletter
• Preparing newsletter and web site content
• Making recommendations for other communications methods and vehicles that will enhance the society’s value to members

Membership Committee

The society exists to serve the needs of its members and depends on the involvement and contributions of its members. In this first year, member recruitment is the top priority for this committee. The committee is responsible for:

• Reviewing how other societies deal with membership matters and identifying good practices to emulate
• Defining levels or categories of membership (such as individual, organizational, student)
• Recommending to the Board a schedule of fees/dues in accordance with types of membership.
• Defining initial benefits and incentives associated with membership,
• Seeking the advice of potential members about the services they desire.
• Setting membership goals by year and type of membership for the next 3-5 years.
• Designing, developing and implementing membership promotion and outreach plans and processes, including printed materials, information for the society website, forms
• developing policies and practices associated with using membership lists, including permissions to make info available, etc.

Sponsorship Committee

Sponsors contribute to the financial and material resources of the Society in either general or targeted ways. Sponsorships might be tied to specific Society goals or activities, such as the annual conference or a prize for best papers; they might also represent general support for Society operations. Sponsors can come from any sector or country, including corporations, NGOs, government, academic institutions and others. The Sponsorship committee:

• reviews how other societies deal with sponsorship matters and identify good practices to emulate
• recommends sponsorship types and levels (fees, services in kind, other)
• define sets of benefits that sponsors can expect in return for their support
• works with the board and chairs of the other committees to identify needs and leads for sponsorship
• researches, designs and develops marketing materials
• develops strategies for recruiting sponsors
• develops policies and practices associated with managing sponsor relationships
• sets sponsorship goals for the next 3 - 5 years

Student Support Committee

This committee focuses on engaging students in the activities of the society and creating opportunities to support students as they move toward careers or advanced degrees associated with digital government. The committee will:

• Reach out to students through their mentors and supervisors who may be society members.
• Solicit students’ ideas for how the society could be useful to them and for how they would like to be involved in society activities.
• Conduct an evaluation process leading to a “best dissertation award” at the 2007 conference.
• Make recommendations to the 2007 conference committee for ways to integrate students more fully into the conference program
• Provide the communications committee with information for and about students for the society newsletter and website
• Encourage students to serve on the society’s committees

Journal Relations Committee

The Society is keenly interested in recognizing and promoting the dissemination of new ideas that emerge from digital government research and practice. The journal relations committee addresses this interest on behalf of society members by:

• Identifying academic and professional journals of interest to members
• Providing the communications committee with information for the society newsletter and website about
• publishing in these journals
• calls for papers or special editors
• articles of interest in recent issues of the journals
• Conducting discussions with journal editors and publishers about possible affiliations between the society and the journal and associated benefits for members
• Establishing and maintaining relationships with counterpart societies in Europe and elsewhere to encourage a larger “market” for information about journals and for possible relationships with journal editors and publishers
• Making recommendations to the society officers and board about engaging in journal affiliations

Committee on Linking Research and Government Management

The DG society values both research and management and works actively to forge mutually beneficial links between these two domains. This committee is responsible for engaging governemnt managers and researchers in useful dialog and other activities that lead to ongoing relationships. To achieve this, the committee will:

• Solicit the views of members on topics and activities that would help forge this relationship
• Provide information to the communications committee about research-management partnerships involving society members for dissemination in the society newsletter and website
• Conduct an evaluation process that recognizes excellent research-management partnerships at the annual society conference
• Make recommendations to the society officers and board for activities that encourage and support research-management linkages

Conference Committee

The annual conference is the Society's signature event.  The committee is responsible for a wide array of activities included choosing conference venues, providing developing the conference program, handing local arrangements, developing and managing the conference budget, and other key aspects of conference planning and management including:.

• Evaluate and select a venue
• Assess and make recommendations about co-location with other professional events
• Emphasize and integrate government and student involvement
• Choose and define the substantive components of the conference (e.g., Research papers, posters, workshops, panels)
• Create a timeline of key milestones
• Prepare and manage a budget
• Prepare and issue calls for proposals
• Manage the review and selection process for papers, etc.
• Manage the production of formal proceedings
• Manage the logistics of the event including registration, hotel reservations, meeting rooms, A/V, food etc.
• Provide local hosting services and amenities

Liaison Committee

The society is one of a number of organizations around the world that are interested in aspects of digital government. The Liaison committee reaches out to other groups to establish communications and mutually beneficial relationships. The committee will:

• Identify organizations and events of interest to the society. These could included other academic and professional societies, government agencies, nonprofit organizations, businesses, international organizations, or others.
• Contact these organizations to introduce the society and discuss mutual interests
• Provide information about these organizations and their activities (e.g. conference announcements, calls for papers, calls for proposals) to the communications committee for dissemination in the society newsletter and website
• Provide these organizations with similar information about the DG Society