CTG's research program contributes in several ways to the academic life of the University at Albany. Through courses, internships and other opportunities for faculty and students, the Center engages with the teaching and research missions of the University.
Public Administration and Policy
CTG partners with UAlbany's Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy, one of the top-ranking public affairs schools in the nation. As members of the faculty in the Department of Public Administration and Policy, CTG Director Sharon Dawes and Deputy Director Theresa Pardo have worked in partnership with Distinguished Professor David Andersen to develop an academic specialty in government information strategy and management. The specialty is available in the Master of Public Administration, Master of Public Policy, Ph.D. in Public Administration, and professional certificate programs.
It offers three specially designed courses that focus on the real-world issues of information management and technology in government, along with special topics and readings courses that augment advanced study. Students tackle policy, management, and technology issues in both course work and individual investigations.
For admissions information visit http://www.albany.edu/rockefeller/pad/pad_admission.htm.
College of Computing and Information
The Center also partners with University at Albany's College of Computing and Information, through membership on the faculty of the interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Information Science. The program aims to prepare scholars and advanced practitioners with a wide range of information skills and knowledge. As faculty members, Sharon Dawes and Deputy Director Anthony Cresswell have taught the doctoral core courses in Information Policy and Information Theory.
More detailed information about the College and its programs can be found at the School's website at www.albany.edu/cci/.
Research opportunities for students
Theoretical scholarship and practical experience commingle in all of the Center's applied research projects, fostering an environment ripe for study by graduate students at both the master's and doctoral levels.
Graduate Assistants and Student Interns participate in many phases of the partnership and research projects conducted at the Center. They may participate in research design, data collection and analysis, literature reviews and best practices research, and project management support activities. To date students from a wide variety of academic disciplines have been involved including public administration, information science, computer science, sociology, history, political science, criminal justice, business, and geography.
Courses
The three courses are offered in the Department of Public Administration and Policy and taught by CTG staff and faculty fellows.
Foundations of Government Information Strategy and Management introduces the interaction of policy, management, and information technology in the design, operation, and evaluation of government operations and public services. This course relies heavily on case studies to illustrate how these domains play out in multiple settings and across sectors -- public, private, and not-for-profit.
Building a Case for IT investments in the Public Sector presents a formal methodology for making IT investment decisions including problem definition, stakeholder analysis, process analysis, best and current practices, technology awareness, and case building. Students will engage in a project with a university or government customer to build a business case for a new IT investment.
Seminar on Information Strategy and Management provides an environment in which leaders from government agencies, nonprofit organizations, private companies, and research organizations discuss their perspectives on the field of information strategy and management.
Conferences
A core aspect of CTG's mission is to take an active role in the community of researchers studying and adding to the growing body of knowledge about IT in government. We accomplish this, in part, through our participation in national and international academic conferences.
We play active roles in organizing two major conferences each year:
dgo.2007 - Bridging Disciplines and Domains
8th Annual International Conference on Digital Government Research, May 20-23, 2007
The Digital Government Society of North America (DGSNA) serves the interests of scholars and managers interested in the development and impacts of digital government. The society grew out of the community building efforts of the National Science Foundation Digital Government Research Program. The society now sponsors the annual international digital government research conference, formerly sponsored by NSF. The next conference, "dgo2007 - Bridging Disciplines and Domains" will be held May 20-23, 2007 in Philadelphia.
Deadline for research papers and proposals for panel sessions and pre-conference tutorials and workshops is December 18, 2006.
The Conference Committee particularly encourages interdisciplinary and cross-cutting submissions. Topics include, but are not limited, to the following:
- Social Science Research and Citizen Interactions: digital democracy and governance; government processes and decision-making; organization and management; public policy issues and implications. Public values such as privacy and trust; e-participation in democratic processes; digital divide, transparency and usability; universal access to information and services.
- Computer Science and Information Technology Research to Support Government: Collaboration tools; cyberinfrastructure for digital government domains; digital libraries and knowledge management; geographic information systems; information integration; interoperable data, networks and architectures; large scale data and information acquisition and management; human-computer interaction; multiple modalities and multimedia; software engineering for large-scale government projects; service-oriented architectures; technology transition and transfer; the semantic web; grid computing.
- IT-Enabled Government Operations and Government Application Domains: Case studies or evaluation of information technology adoption and diffusion in government; IT tools for government planning; integration of data and services; long-term preservation and archiving of government information; security, privacy, and information assurance, criminal justice , law enforcement, and courts; crisis management, education, emergency response, and security; ecosystems informatics (for ecological research or natural resources management or policy); electronic grants administration; electronic rulemaking; government statistics; national infrastructure for community statistics; health and human services; legislative systems, national and international digital government efforts and cooperation; transportation systems & urban planning.
For more information about the Digital Government Society of North America, vist www.dgsociety.org
Conference co-chairs
Judith Bayard Cushing, Evergreen State College
Theresa A. Pardo, Center for Technology in Government, University at Albany/SUNY
Program co-chairs
Alan Borning, University of Washington
Marijn Janssen, Technical University of Delft
The Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS)
The Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS) brings together highly qualified, international professionals and scholars in an interactive environment to address issues in the areas of computer science, computer engineering, and information systems. It is one of the oldest and most influential conferences in the field of system sciences.
Center staff serve as co-chairs for minitracks for the Electronic Government Track, which includes eight minitracks on:
- E-Government Emerging Topics
- E-Democracy
- E-Government Information Security
- E-Government Architecture, Infrastructure, and Interoperability
- E-Government Organization and Management
- E-Government Services and Information
- E-Policy, Law, and Governance
- Mobile Services and Technologies in Government
- Information Technology for Development
Note: This Minitrack is hosted within the Organizational Systems and Technology Track.
You can also find a short history of the E-Government track at HICSS at http://faculty.washington.edu/jscholl/Resume/ HICSS_SH_EGOV.html
Student Profiles
Tuuli Edwards
What brought you to the Center for Technology in Government?
I was looking for a quality MPA program that offered a concentration in information management. Rockefeller College and CTG stood out, and after my first semester in the program, I was happy to join CTG as a graduate assistant.
What did you do prior to coming to CTG?
I completed my Bachelor’s degree in Contemporary History at the University of Turku in Finland in 2007. After that, I moved to the U.S. and worked at an insurance agency before I entered the MPA program in January 2009.
What are your plans/goals for the future?
After completing my degree, I hope to work as an information manager in the public or not-for-profit sector.
How can CTG help you reach your goal for the future?
Working at CTG allows me to explore the various ways in which information management is relevant to public administration. Through my work at CTG, I am developing a wide range of information management skills. The CTG community is also an excellent resource for exploring different career options.
Akram Mohammed
What brought you to the Center for Technology in Government?
I had heard about CTG from my friends at graduate school at the University at Albany and my professors. When I first read through the CTG Web site, it was evident that there was a lot of interesting work happening at CTG. This is what inspired me to apply for the position of a Graduate Assistant here. I started working as a Graduate Assistant in Spring 2007 and the experience has been very enriching this far.
What did you do prior to coming to CTG?
Prior to coming to CTG, I completed my undergraduate studies in India. After receiving a Bachelor’s Degree in Information Technology, I worked as computer lab assistant in Osmania University helping patrons with the programming skills.
What are your plans/goals for the future?
With the new knowledge and skills gained at the Computer Science M.S program and CTG, I would like to use them in an academic or professional organization where I can make the most impact.
How can CTG help you reach your goal for the future?
I believe that CTG provides an opportunity to learn new things and implement them. For example, the extent to which XML is used in web applications here is fascinating. Now I have begun to understand its positive impact on web management. I think working here will keep me updated on the latest technologies and their implementation which is very beneficial for my field of work.
Taewoo Nam
What brought you to the Center for Technology in Government?
Since my MPA at Indiana University, I have been interested in the interaction among technology, public management, public service, and public policy. I learned from CTG’s homepage that they conduct many projects that commingle such key themes in the public sector and I also read published works by CTG researchers’ related to my research interests. From these sources, I recognized that we both keep an eye on the issues penetrating technology and public administration, so I hoped the graduate assistant position at CTG would be a good opportunity to learn from analyzing real cases of technology use and its application in government.
What did you do prior to coming to CTG?
During my second year at Rockefeller College, I worked as a teaching assistant for a Public Economics course. In 2007, I received a Master of Public Affairs from the School of Public and Environmental Affairs in Indiana University at Bloomington. Before coming to the United States, I worked on government projects about risk communication and social perception on technological risks in Korea.
What are your plans/goals for the future?
I hope to get a teaching job in Korea soon after graduation. Globally high-ranked e-governments are raising new issues for evolution and development and I would like to research unexplored topics in this area.
How can CTG help you reach your goal for the future?
I hope that CTG will foster my strategic thoughts as well as my research skills. My research experience at CTG will help to develop my practical ability to analyze, evaluate, and make solutions for a given case. I believe the valuable experiences in research projects will nurture my skills as an independent researcher.