Advice on collaborative networks.

• Position: News & Numbers

A recent report from the IBM Center for the Business of Government offers practical advice to help public managers and political leaders address the challenges of multi-organizational networks. More and more jurisdictions have begun using collaborative networks, but they face political, organizational, and technological challenges in a world accustomed to the traditional, hierarchical approach to problem-solving and accountability, according to the report.

Designing Collaborative Governments." Lessons Learned from Public Safety, draws on information from a six-year project that collected data on 266 collaborative networks of public safety organizations, such as law enforcement and first responders to emergencies. Networks were diverse but did share some common patterns. For example, most of the design issues center on data security and participants' access concerns. The authors also found common principles for designing successful collaborative networks, which they believe can be applied successfully in other areas of the public sector.

Technology provides a way to advance the work of a collaborative network, according to the report. For example, to address the issue of data...