Knowledge and Information Sharing in Transnational Knowledge Networks: A Contextual Perspective

Abstract

As government agencies increasingly collaborate with international counterparts on critical global issues, transnational knowledge and information sharing grow in importance. This paper explores the nature of Transnational Knowledge Networks (TKNs) and identifies critical contextual factors that hinder or enhance their performance. We explore a set of contextual distances that separate the participating organizations and discuss their potential influence on the success of TKNs. The paper concludes with a conceptual framework and a set of testable hypotheses to guide the next phase of our research in understanding knowledge and information sharing across national and cultural boundaries.

Factors influencing exchange activities in transnational knowledge networks

“…The study is guided by the Dynamic Model of Transnational Knowledge Networks (DMTKN) developed recently by group of researchers at the Center for Technology in Government (CTG) at the University at Albany [6,7]. The model depicts the contextual complexity surrounding sharing activities in TPSKNs (Figure 1).…”

“…analyzed the actual experiences of government and partner organizations. The resultant conclusions lay the foundation for future work that goes beyond description, to build a more robust theory of transnational knowledge-and information-sharing to better address global problems [6,7].…”

Exploring the Influence of Contextual Distances on Transnational Public Sector Knowledge Networks: A Comparative Study of AIRNow-I Shanghai and the Hajj-MDSS Initiatives

“…In previous research [8,9], we defined TPSKNs as two or more governmental sub-units located in different countries involved in the exchange of knowledge, information, or both in order to address a mutual concern. We further characterized them as multidimensional organizational phenomena of interdependent components that include political, social, organizational, and technical dimensions which influence performance.…”

“…Laws governing intellectual property, trans-border data flow, privacy protection, contracting, and other topics may not match. Moreover, distance between political philosophies can present competing or conflicting views and agendas [8]. Moreover, when interaction in a TPSKN involves both developed and developing countries, the legal systems and infrastructures may be The final version is published in the Proceedings of the 46 th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences -2013.…”

Mobility and health sector development in China and India

“…These researchers trace processes of "inter-referencing" that can involve vague forms of mutual influence including "citation, allusion, aspiration, comparison and competition" (Ong, 2011:17). Furthermore, where earlier studies on policy learning focused on flows of knowledge between industrialized nations or from richer to poorer countries (for example, Duan, 2010;Dawes et al, 2011), these studies explore the circulation of knowledge among countries and cities whose regional location or development pathways present similar challenges (for example Ong, 2011).…”