SGER: Collaborative Research: Knowledge Networks and Emerging Heterarchies in Rebuilding New York

University Of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign, Urbana IL

Investigators

Abstract

This collaborative SGER research project brings together two research areas, heterarchical organizations and knowledge networks, to investigate coordination among the myriad government agencies, civic associations, architectural and design firms and academics involved in the redevelopment of Lower Manhatten. The project will 1) identify the field of actors and stakeholders differentiated by sector, 2) identify and analyze existing ties among actors and organizations, 3) analyze existing web sites maintained by the diverse actors, 4) map the network of existing web sites to discern coalitions within and among sectors, 5) conduct interviews with individual members identified as key stakeholders, 6) map existing and potential networks using visual mapping tools, 7) trace the shifting boundaries of knowledge networks over time, 8) deploy IKNOW, a community-ware web-based tool that makes knowledge networks visible to communities of practitioners, so that relevant information and insights are available when and where they are needed, and 9) track the use of IKNOW by different stakeholders. This investigation will have practical and theoretical outcomes. The community participants will benefit from new forms of technology to help them better understand "Who knows what?" and "Who knows who knows what?" The researchers will benefit from access to an acute and timely setting for studying emerging heterarchical structures that involve lateral coordination across organizational boundaries with multiple performance criteria and diverse evaluative principles to assess what is worthy and valuable.