In 2001, Fountain published the seminal book, Building the Virtual State: Information Technology and Institutional Change, which outlines the American public sector's path towards a fair, successful use of digital governance. As the book uses a rich collection of case studies to highlight the institutional and political hurdles to that success, in addition to the technological ones, the book remains a leading resource on the topic. It has been cited more than 1,200 times and translated into Chinese, Portuguese, Japanese, and Spanish. The Chinese translation is in its second edition.
In spring 2014, Fountain was named to the "Top Federal 100" by Federal Computer Week. She is one of only two academics to make the list. Soon after, she was also appointed to a three-year term on the Experts Advisory Committee of the E-Government Research Center of the Eastern Regional Organization for Public Administration (EROPA). Fountain is the only non-Chinese member of the approximately 10-member Experts Advisory Committee.
Examining Constraints To, and Providing Tools For, Cross-Agency Collaboration." She also translated that work into a report for IBM's Center for the Business of Government titled "Implementing Cross-Agency Collaboration: A Guide for Federal Managers." Both examine how the traditionally divided federal bureaucracy has sought to become more collaborative in light of technological innovations. Her guidance on how to improve such collaboration has also earned her the title of "collaboration guru" by Federal Computer Week.
Since joining the UMass Amherst faculty in 2005, her research has focused on institutional perspectives on technology and governance, public organizations and institutional change, women and IT, and the intersection of science, technology and society. Fountain has received numerous awards and recognitions during her tenure, including election to the National Academy of Public Administration and selection as an Inaugural Senior Fellow of the Information and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association. She has also received two of the highest campus honors: the Chancellor's Medal in 2012 and the 2010 Chancellor's Award for Outstanding Accomplishments in Research and Creative Activity. Fountain is credited with a number of scholarly publications, including three co-edited volumes, 19 book chapters, 27 working papers, and numerous keynote addresses and conference presentations internationally. She has also served as principal investigator or co-principal investigator on $6.25 million in grants since joining UMass Amherst.
The impact of Fountain's ideas stretches far beyond academic texts and grants, however. She serves as an appointee to the Governor's Innovation Council of Advisors for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and served on the American Bar Association's Blue Ribbon Panel on e-Rulemaking. She has also been the chair, co-chair, and a council member of the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on the Future of Government, a leadership role working with government and corporate leaders in places such as Davos, Istanbul, Dubai and Vienna.
What's next for Fountain? She remains dedicated to assisting governments around the world as they make the difficult transition to a more virtual state.
Article originally appeared on Research Next, available at http://www.umass.edu/researchnext/spotlight/virtual-state.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged digital government, e-government, Jane Fountain, national center for digital government, virtual state on October 26, 2014 by ncdg.
The difficulties of Healthcare.gov need to be seen in the context of an acrimonious political climate and the poor record of large and complex IT projects.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged American politics, digital government, e-government, healthcare, IT, Jane Fountain, public management, public policy on October 28, 2013 by ncdg.
The international panel was organized by the Korean Social Science Research Council and the Korean National Commission for UNESCO. It brought together scholars from several major countries to cast a critical look at public policy and governance, one of the important social transformations in the digital age, in a comparative setting. To this end, the KOSSREC invited internationally recognized scholars on the subject from four countries including China, Japan, Korea, and the USA.
The invited scholars presented their country experiences with an eye toward finding common themes cross-nationally. The panel discussion focused on the ways and the results in which digital technologies are being used for public policy development and innovation in governance. A key theme that emerged from the panel presentations and discussion is the centrality of cross-agency collaboration and its importance for innovation in government globally.
This entry was posted in Events, Research and tagged digital government, Jane Fountain, Research, Seok-Jin Eom on October 15, 2013 by ncdg.
Jane Fountain was featured on a special edition of the Business of Government Hour on Federal News Radio – Conversation with Authors: Implementing Cross-Agency Collaboration: A Guide for Federal Managers with Dr. Jane Fountain on June 17. The interview focuses on collaborative governance, specifically, cross-agency collaboration in the federal government. Recent changes in law and advances in technology have led to an environment that makes cross-agency collaboration more manageable. The interview focuses on how agency leaders can foster cross-agency collaboration as a way of doing business and serving the public. Much of the interview is based on Fountain's empirical research, including a new report for public managers titled "Implementing Cross-Agency Collaboration: A Guide for Federal Managers," published by the IBM Center for the Business of Government.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged cross-agency collaboration, digital government, Fountain on June 27, 2013 by ncdg.