During the first two years of activities, the group members have shared their expertise and interests in four face-to-face meetings in the U.S., Mexico and Canada. Several intellectual products emerged from these initial interactions including the identification of two topical research sub-groups, the design of work plans for carrying out joint exploration of research questions and the creation of strategies for group formation, communication and sustainability. The sections below provide more detail on each of these meetings.

May 2007 Meeting, Philadelphia, PA

The first meeting of the North American Digital Government Working Group took place in Philadelphia in May of 2007, and was attended fifteen participants of the working group from Canada, Mexico and the United States. The meeting focused on group formation activities including exploring strategies for ensuring the sustainability of the group, setting a research agenda, and potential products. The brainstorming sessions led to numerous ideas and themes for research from border and immigration issues to economic and trade issues to e-government leadership to create digital cities and smart regions in border areas. Two initial subgroups were formed one to explore Border Region Information Sharing, and another to explore Full Information Product Pricing Strategies to promote international commerce and regional development.

 

December 2007 Meeting, Cholula, Mexico

Members came together at the Universidad de las Americas for three days in November 2007 to continue the working group activities launched during the first meeting. The opening day of the working group meeting involved a set of discussions organized around group formation activities, as well as in the subgroups formed during the first meeting. The design of the second day provided an opportunity to spend a full-day with government officials from a variety of ministries of the Mexican Federal Government and other organizations involved in digital government in Mexico. The morning session consisted of a series of panel presentations on Digital Government, Information Society, and Innovation in Mexico. Following the panels, the working group members met in small groups with the panelists to discuss key areas of common interest and to explore future collaboration efforts.

May 2008 Meeting, Montreal, Quebec

The North American Digital Government Working Group held its third meeting in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on Sunday May 18th, 2008. The meeting was scheduled to coincide with dg.o 2008. Fourteen members of the working group were in attendance. The meeting was held on Sunday around an abbreviated agenda of topics of importance to the full working group. The agenda included working group business including a discussion of the group’s web site, a proposal for an edited book, the research agenda setting activities, and the planning for the fourth working group meeting to be held in November in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada.

The meeting started with an open discussion of general lessons learned and challenges facing subgroup efforts. These include funding, translation of research protocols, grant applications, and other related documents and the human subjects process. The role of the institutional review board and its relationship with international comparative work was discussed and generally agreed to be problematic. After discussion the working groups decided to put the edited book effort on hold and to focus on the research agenda development efforts. A team was formed to focus on the research agenda setting activities. In addition, subgroups reported on the activity to date. These reports inc luded grnat proposals, conference papers, and research activity. The members leading the planning for the fourth meeting of the working group shared the status of plans for that meeting and invited feedback on and participation in those efforts.

In addition to holding the third meeting at dg.o 2008, the working group activities were well-represented at the conference with three posters , a panel session organized by three members of the working group based on ideas generated at the second working group meeting in Cholula, Mexico, as well as participation in a panel on the three international working groups organized by the PIs of the DGI project.

November 2008 Meeting, Université Laval, Québec City, Quebec

The North American Digital Government Working Group held its fourth meeting at Université Laval in Québec City, Quebec, Canada from November 20-22, 2008. Fourteen members of the working group met together in the facilities of the Institute of Information Technology and Society, Université Laval; all three countries were well-represented at the meeting. The three day meeting focused on refining the Working Group’s overall Research Agenda, moving forward the research activities of each of the Working Group sub-groups, and exploring key issues of interest with invited guests. The first day of the Working Group meeting opened with a welcome from Dr. Diane Poulin, the Chair of the Institute of Information Technology and Society. Following Dr. Poulin’s remarks, members provided activity updates since the last meeting for both the overall Working Group and the two sub-groups; Border States Information Sharing, and Full Information Product Pricing Strategies. The members reviewed the various grants received so far and discussed strategies for seeking additional funding to continue the work of the Group. In addition, items published since the last meeting were acknowledged and continuing publication plans were outlined and agreed upon including a continued presence at conferences such as the International Digital Government Research Conference and the Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS). The later part of the day provided opportunity for the sub-groups to work on their respective research initiatives.

The second day of the Working Group meeting opened with a welcome from Ms. Jacqueline Dubé, Présidente-directrice générale, Centre francophone d'informatisation des organizations (CEFRIO) and featured presentations from the Commission for Environmental Cooperation as well as a number of officials of the Quebec Provincial government including the Ministry of Government Service and the Ministry of Agriculture. Each presented on current issues and initiatives in their organizations. After the presentations, which included a brief overview of the Working Group, the members engaged in round table discussions with the guests exploring areas of common interest and to identify opportunities for collaboration. Discussion topics included overall digital government strategy as well as structural arrangements for and challenges in managing information technology at an enterprise level; information sharing and governance issues related to organic product traceability; and information sharing and collaboration in environmental protection at border regions.

On the final day, Working Group members continued their research agenda discussions by breaking into small groups and exploring key transnational and comparative questions as well as creating a presentation framework for the agenda. The members also developed a plan for completion of the agenda including an outreach strategy. Several administrative discussions were held including coordinating interdependencies among the two sub groups and the development of a Working Group web page. Planning for the next round of Working Group meetings was completed with plans for a meeting at the International Digital Government Research Conference, dg.o 2009, in Puebla, Mexico and a full Working Group Meeting in Albany, NY in October of 2009. The Working Group meeting ended with an informative (and brisk) walking tour of Old Quebec, one of the oldest cities in North America and since 1985, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Support for the meeting was provided by the U.S. National Science Foundation who funded travel for members of the working group from U.S. institutions, by Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT), who funded the travel for members of the working group from Mexican institutions, by the Minister of International Affairs of the Québec government, who paid for some group activities, and by the Institut Technologies de l'information et Sociétés of Université Laval, that provided meeting facilities and support.