[Asis-l] Workshops & Tutorials: 9th International Conference on Digital Government Research

[javed mostafa]

The 9th International Conference on Digital Government
Research, May 18-21, 2008

Please come and join us in Montreal, Canada for the
2008 Digital Government Conference!  Before the main
conference program begins, there will be several
workshops and tutorials dealing with highly focused,
critical, and emerging issues in the field.  We
welcome you to consider participating in these
workshops and tutorials (see below).


To register, please visit:
https://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?eventid=197025

Conference web site: http://www.dgo2008.org/


____________________________________________________________________________________

DG.O 2008 Workshops

Pre-conference Research or Management Workshops

We invite workshop proposals on any digital government
research or management topic. Individuals proposing
workshops will assume the responsibility of
identifying and selecting participants for the
workshop and for conducting workshop activities.

    * Workshop 1: eRulemaking at the Crossroads, v.2.0
    * Workshop 2: Multi-channel Management
    * Workshop 3: Understanding Interagency
Information Sharing Initiatives: Frameworks for
Research about Practice

Workshop 1: eRulemaking at the Crossroads, v.2.0

Sunday May 18, 2008 - 9:00 am - 4:00 pm
Overview

The topic of eRulemaking has gained prominence in the
Digital Government research community as well as the
federal government. In 2006, a dg.o workshop examined
"eRulemaking at a Crossroads". Over the past seven
years, spurred by funding from the NSF's Digital
Government program and other US agencies, government
officials, citizens, activists, business leaders, and
a wide range of scholars at Pitt , CMU , USC-ISI , and
Cornell , have converged around the specific problem
of building tools to manage the flow of public
comments into the U.S. federal government. At the same
time, the Office of Management and Budget has overseen
the development of government-wide eRulemaking
Initiative, now 5 years old, which created
Regulations.Gov , a portal for reviewing all open
rulemakings, and a Federal Docket Management System
(FDMS). Meanwhile, a special committee of the American
Bar Association is preparing a report on the "Status &
Future of Federal e-Rulemaking". A vigorous debate
still continues about the utility of mass public
comment campaigns and alternate means for promoting
citizen engagement. As a result, despite considerable
scholarly and practitioner interest, eRulemaking is
once again at the crossroads.

The target audience for this workshop is a mix of
government officials, as well as researchers from law,
public administration, political science, computer
science and other related disciplines. We anticipate
presentations or system demonstrations by the
individuals or groups with accepted white papers. Much
of the workshop will be devoted to discussion.
Call for Participation

Anyone can register to attend the workshop without
having to prepare a paper or presentation. All
presenters at this dg.o2008 international research
workshop are required to submit a 2-page white paper
to the workshop organizer by April 15, 2008. White
papers must adopt the ACM's 'proceedings' templates
that are being used by all participants in dg.o2008.
The ACM's proceedings templates are for use in
Microsoft Word and LaTeX2e. Strict adherence to SIGS
style is expected. The template can be downloaded at:
http://www.acm.org/sigs/pubs/proceed/template.html.
Organizers

    * Dr. Stuart W. Shulman, University of Pittsburgh
      shulman at pitt.eduThis e-mail address is being
protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled
to view it
    * Tom Bruce, Cornell University
      tom.bruce at cornell.eduThis e-mail address is
being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript
enabled to view it

Workshop 2: Multi-channel Management

Sunday May 18, 2008 - Time TBA
Overview

Since the early nineties, governmental organizations
have been using a variety of customer service
channels. These channels have different
characteristics and are used for communication,
interaction, transaction and distribution of products
and/or services. Among the traditional channels, like
the front desk and the telephone, citizens and
enterprises have access to digital channels like
websites and e-mail. Channel usage statistics indicate
that citizens still prefer the more expensive personal
channels (desk and telephone) to the newer cost
efficient digital channels. Many governmental
organizations struggle with the integration and
management of these service channels. The solutions to
these multichannel problems are usually developed on a
pragmatic and an ad hoc basis, without having solid
scientific and methodological grounds. One of the
challenges that governmental organizations face, is to
fulfill the basic principle of 'free channel choice',
i.e. citizens have the right to choose to use the
channel of their preference. This freedom of choice
implies that governmental organizations should provide
all services through all channels even if this is
illogical. In order to effectively and efficiently
deploy customer service channels, more insight on
citizen behavior as well as organizational and
technological solutions is required.
Objective and Workshop schedule

This workshop aims at discussing elements of
multi-channel approaches, providing an overview of the
state-of-the-art and discussing deficiencies and
further research need. In particular, the workshop
will addresses multi-channels from a customer point of
view, provide an overview of multi-channel
coordination and channel synchronization and
multichannel strategies.

Organizations can pursue a variety of multichannel
strategies given their customers, scarce resources and
ambitions. Channel synchronization is required as
citizens expect the same information across different
channels, given their freedom of channel choice.
Channel synchronization is not only a technical but
also an organizational problem. Multichannel customer
management is necessary to entice citizens to the most
effective and cost efficient channel. This requires a
deep understanding of citizen's behavior with respect
to channel choice, usage and preference.

The workshop will have a number of presentations of 45
minutes with discussion following. Topics will include
"Understanding Customers", "Multi-channel Coordination
and Synchronization", "Multi-channel Strategies", and
Multi-channel Management - What can we learn from the
field?".
Workshop Leaders

    * Marije Teerling, Telematica Instituut, P.O. Box
589, 7500 AN ENSCHEDE, The Netherlands, Phone: +31
(0)53 - 485 04 80, Fax: +31 (0)53 - 485 04 00,
      E-mail: Marije.Teerling at telin.nlThis e-mail
address is being protected from spam bots, you need
JavaScript enabled to view it
    * Willem Pieterson, Twente University, the
Netherlands
    * Marijn Janssen, Delft University of Technology,
the Netherlands
    * Bram Klievink, Delft University of Technology,
the Netherlands

Workshop 3: Understanding Interagency Information
Sharing Initiatives: Frameworks for Research about
Practice

Sunday May 18, 2008 - Time: 1:00-5:00 p.m.
Maximum Participants: 15
Overview

This workshop build on work begun during a workshop at
the 2007 dg.o meeting entitled " Classifying
Interagency Information Sharing Initiatives for
Research about Practice." The purpose of the 2007
workshop was to identify and further develop
frameworks for research on the creation and
operational effects of interagency information sharing
systems. This follow-on workshop will invite the
previous participants and recruit new ones to further
develop the framework materials from 2007 and craft a
research agenda for further investigations. We intend
the experience to promote future collaboration and
research project development among the participants
and their colleagues.

The information sharing systems of interest are often
critical to the effective functioning of many relevant
digital government areas. These include public safety
networks, emergency management, social services,
criminal justice, electronic payments, and health
care. The systems are also notoriously difficult to
build, due in large part to the complex technical,
organizational, and political issues that must be
resolved. No single discipline is sufficient for
adequately modeling phenomena of this sort, so we are
seeking interdisciplinary frameworks and approaches
that have promise to both advance theory and
contribute to practical problem solving. Particular
attention will be given to environmental, technical
and organizational issues that would constrain or
contribute to the success of such initiatives.

The workshop will encompass the following activities:

   1. Review of the materials developed for the
previous workshop.
   2. Identifying new work that emerged in the past
year or was not represented at last year's workshop.
   3. Preparing a revised description and analysis of
the merits of existing frameworks or theoretical
schemes
   4. Propose one tentative research design and venues
that offer opportunities for further research
         1. Description and comparison of field sites
         2. Fit of frameworks or theoretical schemes
to potential field work & designs
         3. Analysis of issues of participation by and
access to government agencies to measure success,
performance or outcomes of new programs.

Preparation for Workshop Participants:

Discussion paper - Each participant should prepare a
short discussion paper (2-3 page maximum) addressing
the following points.

    * 1. What current frameworks have you used or
would you advocate for studies of interagency
information sharing/integration, with a focus at the
interagency initiative level of analysis?
    * What criteria should be used in selecting or
modifying such frameworks for the design and conduct
of research?
    * Which conceptual frameworks or models for
research on interagency initiatives can best support
collaboration among researchers working on these
problems?
    * Brief descriptions of 1 or 2 frameworks or
models for discussion. Examples should be chosen from
a published work, either the submitter's or other
author's, with citations or electronic copy if
possible. The proposal should also include a brief
reference list of related research and if possible an
EndNote file for sharing.

Workshop participants are asked to submit their
prepared materials to the organizers by May 5, 2008
for sharing among other participants in advance of the
workshop.
Expected Results:

Results of the work are expected to include:

    * new collaborations on research in government
information sharing
    * possible new frameworks or theory approaches
    * enhanced sharing of related literature, models,
research methods, data sources, and research sites
    * new research initiatives and partnerships

Workshop Organizers:

    * Anthony M. Cresswell
      Center for Technology in Government
      University at Albany-SUNY
      518-442-3766
    * Jane Fedorowicz
      Departments of Accountancy and Information &
Process Management
      Bentley College
      jfedorowicz at bentley.eduThis e-mail address is
being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript
enabled to view it
      781-891-3153

____________________________________________________________________________________

DG.O 2008 Tutorials

Pre-conference Tutorials

The dg.o tutorials are half- or full-day presentations
offering deeper insight into the scientific and
government domains, research topics or methods,
technologies or field experience of veteran digital
government researchers and practitioners.

    * Tutorial 1: Modeling Public Administration
Services Using the Governance Enterprise Architecture
(GEA) Framework
    * Tutorial 2: Internet Activism 2.0
    * Tutorial 3: Using Partial Least Squares (PLS)
for Digital Government Research
    * Tutorial 4: Planning for and Responding to
Emergencies - Who Needs to Know What?

Tutorial 1: Modeling Public Administration Services
Using the Governance Enterprise Architecture (GEA)
Framework

Sunday, May 18, 2008, Half day

The aim of this tutorial is to introduce to the
audience the Governance Enterprise Architecture (GEA),
which is an Enterprise Architecture for Public
Administration (PA). As such, GEA consists of a set of
technology independent models that describe the PA
domain.

An Enterprise Architecture is the description of the
structure and behavior of an organization’s
processes, information systems, personnel and
organizational subunits, aligned with the
organization’s core goals and strategic direction.
The primary purpose of creating an Enterprise
Architecture is to ensure that business strategy of
the organization is in line with its IT investments.

Enterprise Architectures can also be extended in the
government domain. For example, the U.S. Federal
Government uses an Enterprise Architecture to inform
the Capital Planning and Investment Control process.
The Federal Enterprise Architecture reference models
serve as a framework to guide Federal Agencies in the
development of their architectures. Other related
efforts can be found in the following links:

    * USA:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/egov/a-1-fea.html
    * New Zealand: http://www.e.govt.nz/standards/fea/
    * UK:
http://www.cio.gov.uk/documents/cto/pdf/enterprise_architecture_uk.pdf
    *
Denmark:http://en.itst.dk/architecture-and-standards/oio-architecture-framework
    * Open
Group:http://www.opengroup.org/architecture/togaf8-doc/arch/


The tutorial will not remain at the theoretical level.
In fact, an application that is used to model PA
services following the GEA object model for service
provision will also be presented. Consequently, the
tutorial consists of two parts. In the first part, the
GEA models will be introduced and discussed. In the
second part, the audience under the guidance of the
presenters will be given the chance to model PA
services using the tool that has been developed.

It is worth mentioning that PA agencies of two
European Union Member States are already using GEA for
modeling their services.

The tutorial will be presented by experts in the area
of e-Government, PA domain and service modeling.

Presenters:

    * Dr. Vassilios Peristeras, National University of
Ireland, Digital Enterprise Research Institute,
Ireland
    * Dr. Efthimios Tambouris, University of
Macedonia, Greece and Informatics and Telematics
Institute, Centre for Research and Technology, Hellas,
Greece
    * Professor Konstantinos Tarabanis, University of
Macedonia, Greece and Centre for Research and
Technology, Hellas, Greece
    * Nikolaos Loutas, University of Macedonia, Greece
and Centre for Research and Technology, Hellas, Greece
and National University of Ireland, Digital Enterprise
Research Institute, Ireland

Tutorial 2: Internet Activism 2.0

Sunday, May 18, 2008, Half-day

Some e-democracy and e-government researchers work
with online social and political participants, either
tapping existing online communities or developing
their own for study purposes. These researchers need
to know how to reach and motivate such participants,
as well as have a clear understanding of the range of
online advocacy activities worth studying. A key
problem for researchers who are developing such a
community is that many such participants are no longer
reachable by putting up a web page and sending out
emails—the "customer relationship management" (CRM)
approach to outreach. With the emergence of the social
web, potential participants need to be reached and
motivated through social networks and social media.
Effective outreach must utilize a more sophisticated
strategy involving both CRM and social web techniques.

Internet Activism 2.0 will explore the underlying
dynamics that are shaping online outreach strategy,
the new tools available, and the strategies and
tactics for leveraging the best of CRM and social
network opportunities. Among the topics covered are:

    * Using social networks and social media websites
for advocacy
    * Engaging blogs for advocacy
    * Widgets and Facebook applications
    * Turning super-activists into online organizers
    * Distributed campaign strategies

This tutorial will be an interactive
lecture/discussion. Participants will set up
Facebook accounts and search for pertinent blogs and
other online content.

This tutorial will be taught by a widely recognized
expert on digital media and online activism.
Presenter:

    * Alan Rosenblatt, Center for American Progress
Action Fund, Washington, D.C.

Tutorial 3: Using Partial Least Squares (PLS) for
Digital Government Research

Sunday, May 18, 2008, Half day

Partial Least Squares (PLS) is a structural equation
modeling (SEM) technique similar to covariance-based
SEM as implemented in LISREL, EQS, or AMOS. Therefore,
PLS can simultaneously test the measurement
model—relationships between indicators and their
corresponding constructs—as well as the structural
model (relationships between constructs). However,
unlike its covariance-based counterpart, PLS allows
researchers to working with small samples, too many or
too few variables, data from non-normal or unknown
distributions, and relatively new theories in which
relationships between variables are not well defined.
This tutorial shows how to use partial least squares
(PLS) and argues that the correct use of this
technique could help to incorporate more realistic
assumptions and better measurements into digital
government research. It does it through a commented
example of a digital government research study.

Digital government is a complex socio-technical
phenomenon, which is affected by technical,
managerial, institutional and environmental factors.
An important portion of digital government research
has used a single measure of e-government and
relatively simple assumptions about the relationships
between information technologies and related factors.
Much previous research has hypothesized mostly models
in which all variables are at the same level of
importance, limiting understanding about the complex
relationships among different categories of factors
(e.g., organizational and institutional). In addition,
many of these studies do not integrate and evaluate
multiple measures of e-government, but instead use a
single measure and, therefore, need to incorrectly
assume no measurement error. The SEM framework
addresses these shortcomings, and PLS is an accessible
way for researchers to implement SEM.
Presenter:

    * J. Ramon Gil-Garcia is an Assistant Professor in
the Department of Public Administration at the Center
for Research and Teaching in Economics (CIDE) in
Mexico City and a Research Fellow at the Center for
Technology in Government, University at Albany, State
University of New York (SUNY). Currently, he is also a
Faculty Affiliate at the National Center for Digital
Government, University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Tutorial 4: Planning for and Responding to Emergencies
- Who Needs to Know What?

Sunday, May 18, 2008
Overview

An engineering approach to improving the quality of
service for responding to disasters is presented. Of
special concern is improving response from 911 calls,
water utilities, FEMA, and other agencies. The
tutorial does not assume engineering expertise and is
appropriate for computer scientists and social
scientists. The questions addressed revolve around the
ways these agencies are presently limited when
responding - what computer-based tools are being
utilized and what new capabilities could be added to
the tools to improve the level and speed of responses.
Thus, the goal of the tutorial is to present a case
study in identifying ways to elevate emergency
response capabilities within the present framework of
municipal computer and data analysis capabilities.
Objective and Tutorial Outline

States and national agencies are collecting airborne
surveys more frequently and ground-based sensory
systems are proliferating. This data is being adopted
quickly by municipalities but mostly in its original
form. By examining the needs of different elements of
the governmental structure, it is obvious that there
are many ways that value can be added to better
inform. For example, several agencies within a city
plan for and respond to flood- and wind-based
emergencies using photogrametry and ranging (LiDAR)
data combined with GIS tools. The emergencies run the
gamut from local flooding due to thunderstorms to
catastrophic events such as hurricanes. It is
important to answer such questions as:

    * Given eyewitness site reports, what is the total
extent of a local flood?
    * Could a high-water vehicle cross a specific
intersection?
    * Is there an underground conduit that would
permit flood waters to bypass a surface barrier?
    * Which buildings have survivable space above the
waterline?
    * Which buildings have a roof orientation
vulnerable to wind from a specific direction?
    * What is the area drained by a specific pumping
station?

 

Many agencies have in place the infrastructure (e.g.,
GIS and computer-based models) and the data needed to
answer such questions but yet lack the capability.
Methods and examples of tracing needs back to data
sources and then tracing solutions forward to address
the needs are described.

Three main topics will be covered in the tutorial:

    * "Introduction: New Orleans as an Example Urban
Government Organization"
    * "The Current State of Information Dealing with
Flood and Wind Events"
    * "Applying Available Sensor-obtained Data to
Improve Responses"

 
Presenters:

    * Prof. Bill P. Buckles, Dept. of Computer Science
& Engineering, University of North Texas,
bbuckles at cs.eduThis e-mail address is being protected
from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
    * Prof. Laura J. Steinberg, Dept. of Civil &
Environmental Engineering, Southern Methodist
University, lauras at engr.smu.eduThis e-mail address is
being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript
enabled to view it
    * Dr. Xiaohui Yuan, Dept. of Computer Science &
Engineering, University of North Texas,
xyuan at cs.unt.eduThis e-mail address is being protected
from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

 



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