This award will support the first US-China International Workshop on Digital Government Research and Practice (IntDG 2006), October 12-13, 2006, in Beijing, China. Digital government research is rapidly maturing in the U.S. Various digital government projects at all levels of the public sector are also being actively pursued in a wide range of domains with important intellectual progress and practical lessons learned. However, digital government research has been typically confined within the context of a single country, resulting in alack of comparative and transnational understanding. In addition, there is a critical need for digital government researchers and practitioners from different countries to share their findings and lessons learned, and develop a core set of common principles and methodologies to promote the further advancement of the field and practice.
This proposed international workshop is part of the emerging effort from the U.S. digital government research community to tackle some of these challenges arising in the international context. The specific objectives of this workshop are three-fold: (a) create an intellectual forum to bring together key digital government researchers in both U.S. and China to exchange research ideas, discuss emerging and future digital government research, and explore the international dimension of digital government research; (b) foster collaboration between U.S. and Chinese digital government researchers, and promote understanding and encourage joint efforts between researchers, funding agencies, and practitioners from both countries; and (c) explore collaborative opportunities between the professional digital government societies from both countries. The specific thematic emphases of this workshop will include digital city, environment, and public health. The workshop is planned as a two-day event with presenters from both U.S. and China. The Chinese Academy of Sciences, as the host of this planned workshop, is a co-sponsor and co-organizer of the event.
