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Virtual Networks: An Opportunity for Government

Frank DiGiammarino and Lena Trudeau

Today’s government relies on a broad network that extends beyond other public-sector entities to include the private sector, nonprofit organizations, community groups, and individual citizens. Government entities need to work effectively across boundaries that impede the collaboration and information sharing required to innovate and change.

“Virtualizing” these networks gives government the opportunity to extend outside its institutions and employ the resources of nongovernmental organizations and the citizenry at large. It also provides government leaders with new ways to reach deeper into their own organizations to leverage the wealth of information and ideas that reside there, stifled by the natural hierarchy of government and the “operating silos” that hierarchy has created.

This article looks at these virtual networks in general and The Collaboration Project in particular, the National Academy of Public Administration’s newly launched leadership forum that uses research, best practices, and other resources to help apply the benefits of Web 2.0 and collaborative technology in government.

Frank DiGiammarino serves as vice president for strategic initiatives and business development at the National Academy of Public Administration in Washington, DC. Lena Trudeau is program area director for strategic initiatives at the National Academy. They jointly lead The Collaboration Project.