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Digital Government Society of North America

DGOnline Newsletter

Volume 1: December 2006

Welcome to the inaugural ed

ition of the new dgOnline, the electronic newsletter of the Digital Government Society of North America. dgOnline is a monthly summary of news and events of interest to the DG community. To submit material for inclusion in future issues, please contact Denise Dreany.

In this issue:

-- dg.o Conference Update
-- Meet New Committee Co-Chairs
-- Interview with Sue Roecker, US Social Security Administration
-- Notes from the Field: "Report On The First US- China International Workshop"
-- Articles and Reports of Interest
-- Calls for Papers
-- Conferences
-- Education Programs
-- Grant Opportunities

dg.o Conference Update:

Plans for the dg.o 2007 Conference “Bridging Disciplines and Domains” are underway. The conference is being held at Sheraton Society Hill, Philadelphia, PA. May 20 – 23, 2007.
www.dgsociety.org/conference.php

Important Dates

Closed:	Deadline for research papers, panel sessions, and pre-conference tutorials and workshops.
February 15, 2007:	Notification for above.
February 26, 2007:	Deadline for submitting Birds of a Feather sessions, and systems demonstrations.
March 21, 2007:	Notification for above.
May 20 -23, 2007:	Conference

Meet New Committee Co-Chairs:

Patricia Fletcher, University of Maryland Baltimore County has signed on as co-chair for the Research and Practice Committee.

Noshir Contractor, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has joined the Liaison Committee as co-chair.

Interview with Sue Roecker, US Social Security Administration:

"How Can We Bridge the Gap?"

Picture of a bridge As a 30 year veteran of the US Social Security Administration (SSA), Sue Roecker has valuable insights on the challenges government agencies face when implementing electronic offerings to citizens. Along with Patricia Fletcher from the University of Maryland Baltimore County, Sue is the co-chair of the committee on Linking Research and Practice for the Digital Government Society. In a recent interview, Sue expressed hope that her experience and knowledge of how things work from the government perspective can help bridge the gap that often exists between DG researchers and public managers.

Sue first became aware of the Digital Government Society while attending the 2006 dg.o conference in San Diego where she talked with a variety of people, and was impressed with their motivation, insights and intelligence. She thought the formation of the Digital Government Society was a valuable idea for government managers who need new ways to do their work. When Society President Sharon Dawes called several months later to ask if she would be interested in co-chairing the committee on Research and Practice, she agreed.

At SSA, Sue is the person responsible for developing IT strategies for the way government services are offered. From that perspective, she says, she has often questioned the practicality of the research she has seen and felt that it is not as targeted to practice or as timely as it could be.

For example, SSA has already hit the ceiling when it comes to totally automating key processes because authentication still presents an obstacle to full automation. Actual physical documents proving age, citizenship, and marriage are still needed. These practical challenges need to be addressed most urgently. But for SSA, which will soon be heavily impacted by retiring baby boomers, the needed changes are not happening fast enough.

According to Sue, radically different service offerings are needed. They need to be safe and secure, easy to understand, and able to completed by people who may not be technologically savvy. On the back end they need to be able to connect with vital records records systems and other agencies in order to collect all the information needed to complete the beneficiary's transaction and provide services.

Connecting researchers with government managers over issues like these can be of great value to citizens and agencies. Applied research can help solve problems of this kind by combining these different kinds of experience and knowledge. In this arena, the Digital Government Society can help government do a better job, be more efficient, and provide the electronic offerings that meet citizen’s needs -- it can also be the place where government agencies are most likely to form partnerships with researchers that can advance knowledge in computer science, public management, and other academic fields.

Notes from the Field:

"Report On The First US-China International Workshop"

Three people at the US_China International Workshop

The first US_China International Workshop on Digital Government Research and Practice (Int DG 2006) was held in Beijing on October 11-13, 2006 co-chaired by Daniel Zeng, University of Arizonia and Valerie Gregg, USC and DG Society Secretary. Society officers and committee chairs Sharon Dawes, Yigal Arens, Valerie Gregg, Jose Fortes, and Noshir Contractor were all members of the US delegation. Pictured at right are Larry Brandt, NSF; Nabil Adam, Rutgers; and Lei Zheng, UAlbany-CTG, all also members of the US delegation.

The objective of IntDG 2006 was to create an intellectual forum to bring together key digital government researchers in the U.S. and China to exchange research ideas; foster research collaboration; and explore collaborative opportunities between the professional DG societies from both countries. This year’s workshop consisted of four panels: city government and services, environment, public health, and international digital government research and societies.

About 20 digital government researchers from the U.S., China and U.K. presented their work. Funding agency representatives from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NNSFC) also gave presentations aimed at promoting collaboration between both countries. IntDG 2006 also featured a government roundtable discussion with participation from three Chinese officials and two U.S. officials, including DJ Harper from the State of Arizona and Norman Jacknis, CIO of Westchester County, NY.

Digital government (DG) research is rapidly maturing. However, DG research has been typically confined within national boundaries, resulting in the lack of comparative and transnational understanding. The workshop provided a first opportunity for DG researchers and practitioners from both countries to share their challenges, findings, and lessons learned.

Articles and Reports of Interest:

Information Security: Coordination of Federal Cyber Security Research and Development – GAO Report to Chairman, Committee on Government Reform, House of Representatives. 09-06. GAO identifies federal entities involved in cyber security and research, actions taken to improve oversight, and methods used for technology transfer. The report makes recommendations for a timeline for developing a research agenda and guidance for providing research data to repositories. www.gao.gov/new.items/d06811.pdf

Barriers to E-Government: Overcoming obstacles to improving European public Services. A Legal and Institutional Analysis – eGovernment Unit. DG Information Society and Media, European Commission. www.egovbarriers.org/downloads/deliverables/Deliverable_1b_Aug_16_2006.pdf

Four International Working Groups on Digital Government Selected to Receive Research Funding - University at Albany's Center for Technology in Government has selected four groups of international researchers to receive fundingto advance digital government research on issues that cross national boundaries. www.ctg.albany.edu/about/press_dgi_20061213