Collaboration within government or between the public and private sectors involves partners from different organizations pursuing different, sometimes conflicting, objectives. These are usually large-scale projects that address very visible problems, making significant use of new processes and technologies. All these factors are potential sources of risk. Two categories of risk were important in these initiatives:

• external risks that come mainly from the socio-economic, political, and technological environments; and
• internal risks that stem from the nature of the project, the participants, and their relationships.

Fortunately, most risks can be managed if they are identified and understood early in the process.