ABSTRACT
The importance and challenges of networking and knowledge sharing for attacking wicked problems are well-known and well-founded. Public sector knowledge networks (PSKNs) are social-technical systems in which human, organizational, and institutional considerations exist in a mutually influential relationship with processes, practices, software, and other technologies. PSKNs potentially offer substantial benefits. They constitute communication channels that give participants access to others' information and knowledge with the expectation that better quality more timely and more complete information will be available to those who need it at the time that it is most useful. Shared knowledge and information integration can also help agencies better define and solve joint problems; coordinate programs, policies, and services; and prompt improvements in both IT infrastructure and information content. The social processes necessary to develop shared understandings and standard definitions of key terms and concepts require at least minimal levels of trust and support if open dialogue and compromise are to result.
