If only we knew …how innovations in science and technology change the way we work together to enhance our well-being.

By Beth Noveck, GovLab

What and Who: New Ways of Collaboration

• What new forms of collaboration have emerged in the Internet era? What are their
  characteristics, for example, of network aggregation such as prediction markets,
  or collective intelligence networks, such as online brainstorming communities, or
  collaborative action networks, such as Wiki platforms.
• What is the state of the art in collaborative tools?
• Who participates and collaborates? And in what organizational structure?

Where: Collaboration and Governance

• How do institutions practically open up their practices and engage the public
  meaningfully?
• Which technologies and practices help to identify and solve problems collectively?
• Which types of on-line communities and tools work best to define agendas and prioritize
  problems, source solutions, and implement solutions–in other words, how do we best
  introduce collaboration into different function of governance?
• What are the different types of networked collaboration in governance today? How
  effective are new models like citizen Hackathons with open government data? Online
  policy brainstorming?
• What can we learn from best practices established by the private sector and broader
  Internet community? Do collaborative platforms differ if they seek to serve consumer
  markets rather than public goods?

Why: Collaboration Incentives and Barriers

• What do the social and behavioral sciences teach us about creating incentives to
  collaborate; what case studies and specific examples guide this analysis?
• In what circumstances does collaboration work? When does it fail? Why? When is more
  participation better?
• What conditions lead to more participation of what type?
• Which designs create incentives for which kinds of collaboration? On which platforms?
• What is the role of visualization and graphical screens in furthering successful online
  engagement?
• How are innovations in collaboration related to and informed by increased collection,
  sharing, and analysis of data?
• Which legal and policy frameworks encourage collaboration? Which impede
  collaboration?

Impact: Assessment and Dissemination

• How does collaborative problem solving affect people’s well-being?
• Which metrics exist that measure that impact? What new measures should be used?
• What steps can be taken to ensure that institutional innovation fosters collaboration?
  What steps can be taken to make sure that these, in fact, lead to improving well-being?
• Does collaboration change our understanding of the legitimacy of governance? Of
  democracy? In what ways?
• How do we take what we have learned about collaboration, and apply it to train the next
  generation of citizens/governments/government employees? What are the skills needed to
  be an effective problem solver?
• How can we translate what we know into the practice and design of collaboration?