PRO-VE'09
10th IFIP Working Conference on
Virtual Enterprises
Thessaloniki, GREECE, 7-9 October 2009 www.pro-ve.org

International Workshop on Collaborative Public Networks

Scope

Collaborative Public Networks (CPN) adapt and apply the concept and methods of Collaborative Networks (CN) to public administration and public governance. CPN are dynamic organizational networks consisting of public, private and non-governmental organizations working interdependently to support the mission and programs of specific government agencies or government enterprises.

CPN are becoming increasing important to governments and societies all over the world, due to predominant trends in public administration reform programs, including specialization of government functions, outsourcing of government operations, flexibility in government structures, collaboration between government and non-government stakeholders, and increasing reliance on information and communication technologies by governments. All of them result in the increasing reliance of governments on third-party organizations - businesses, academia and non-governmental organizations, to deliver public services and goods and to carry out activities previously handled solely by government. In addition, public policy development in many areas including environment, economy and security, is becoming ever more complex and increasingly cross both sectoral and national boundaries. There are also growing pressures on governments to provide better response and coordination to natural and man-made emergencies, all requiring a high degree of understanding and collaboration between various government and non-government entities.

CPN provide a promising organizational paradigm for governments to be able to successfully address such challenges. This is due to a number of features that distinguish CPNs from traditional CNs: (1) formality of the process for enrolling network members, (2) the focus of the network on public value creation, (3) high complexity of the network in terms of number and heterogeneity of nodes, (4) conformance of network behavior to specific rules and regulations, (5) explicit identification of members during interaction, and (6) communication constraints to satisfy command-and-control requirements.

This workshop aims to bring together researchers and practitioners from the communities of Collaborative Networks and Virtual Organizations on the one hand, and Electronic Governance and Public Administration on the other, to exchange ideas on the nature of Collaborative Public Networks, and to explore opportunities and discuss challenges in traditional and emerging applications of CPN.

Topics

The workshop will discuss topics ranging from theories, through models and frameworks, to best practices and case studies that can explain the nature and lifecycle of Collaborative Public Networks, from activation and synthesis, though operation and growth, to sustenance and dissolution. The workshop will also consider for discussion particular issues related to contracts, negotiations and conflict-resolution in CPN. Contributions on specific application areas of CPNs will also be considered, such as: policy development, emergency response, public health, environmental governance, public and national security, humanitarian aid, connected governance, and public social networks.

Specific topics for the workshop include but are not limited to:

• Foundations for CPN - Theories, Frameworks and Models
• Methodologies for CPN Design
• Lifecycle Management of CPN
• Technical, Social and Organizational Infrastructures for CPN
• Contracts and Conflicts Resolution in CPN
• Applications of CPN
• Domain-Specific Features of CPN
• Benefits and Value Management in CPN
• National versus Trans-national CPN
• Social versus Organizational Infrastructures
• Networks of CPN

Chairs

Tomasz Janowski, United Nations University, Macao, tj@iist.unu.edu
Theresa Pardo, CTG, University at Albany, SUNY, United States, tpardo@ctg.albany.edu
Vassilios Peristeras, Digital Enterprise Research Institute, Ireland, vassilios.peristeras@deri.org

Submission Procedure

Authors are invited to submit research contributions or practical experience reports, all limited to 8 pages, by email to workshop chairs, according to the schedule below:

• Submission of Papers - 1 August 2009
• Acceptance/Review Notification - 15 August 2009
• Final Submission - 1 September 2009

Each paper will be peer-reviewed by three other experts. The proceedings of the workshop, including all accepted papers, will be published as the Technical Report of the United Nations University IIST. Extended versions of are planned to be published as a special edition of a selected Journal.

Besides presentation of papers, the workshop will include a session dedicated to the discussion of the research strategy and collaboration in the area of Collaborative Public Networks.