Resumen

DAWES, Sharon S.. Advancing Digital Government: The Research-Practice-Knowledge Connection. Gest. polít. pública [online]. 2013, vol.22, n.spe, pp.49-67. ISSN 1405-1079.

Digital government is both a research domain and a field of practice. As such, it needs both new knowledge and research-based problem solving and innovation. To achieve both ends, researchers need to bring their full array of theories, standards and methodologies to the actual needs of government, while practitioners' deep knowledge of policy domains, and organizational and political environments can challenge and enrich how researchers frame questions, explore explanations, and convey results. Deeply-rooted differences in these two professional cultures make this kind of engagement difficult and prone to failure, but improvement is both needed and possible. This essay reflects on twenty years of experience with research-practice partnerships and offers strategies that individual researchers can use to make it more feasible and successful. The strategies address relationship building, choice of research methods, research management techniques, the timing of research, and realistic appreciation for costs, benefits and risks.

Palabras llave : engaged research; research-practice partnerships; boundary-spanning.