Center For Competitive Government

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About

In memory of Professor Paul A. Andrisani

In Press
The Mayor’s Summit
Presentations

The Center for Competitive Government (formerly the Privatization Research Center) deals with description, evaluation and planning of innovations by government. Current research projects include the following:

identification of “best practices” in competitive government
city by city and state by state comparisons of innovative practices in government
privatization of police, water and wastewater and transportation facilities
restructuring police emergency response, including burglar alarms
public-private partnerships of free trade zones
national analysis of contracting-out efforts, including states’ human services.

Director

Dr. Simon Hakim – Simon Hakim CV

CALL FOR PAPERS

THE DIGITAL CITY

Professor Simon Hakim of Temple University and Andrew Buss of the City of Philadelphia’s Division of Technology invite interested authors to submit an abstract for a chapter in an upcoming book about technology innovations in cities. The objective of the book is to highlight technological innovations that provide efficient public service delivery, improve quality of life, and enhance information delivery. Chapters should discuss case studies in technology and managerial innovation and may address issues such as:

Building citizen engagement, collaboration, and government transparency with information technology
The role of Broadband in the creative urban economy
Creating sustainable solutions with technology
Enhancing the security of our cities through technology
Technology as an urban economic development engine
Creating government efficiency through a mobile workforce
Digital mapping and structural information of cities
Public-Private Partnerships in creating and managing urban innovations.

Contributors from academia, government, industry, and consulting are invited to propose chapters. We wish to include a variety of topics and author disciplines, and encourage examples of international urban technology innovations. A chapter is usually 15-20 double spaced pages and should not exceed 30 pages. The deadline for submission of an abstract is April 15, 2011. If you are interested in proposing a chapter for the book, please submit an abstract and a short bio of the authors to Simon Hakim at shakim@temple.edu, or to Andrew Buss at Andrew.buss@phila.gov

SECURING TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS

We are editing a book on Securing Transportation Systems which is part of a book series on Protecting Critical Infrastructures, Springer Publishers. The first book on Safeguarding Homeland security: Governors & Mayors Speak Out.

The book includes airports, airlines, water ports, highways, tunnels and bridges, rail and mass transit. These infrastructures may face biological, chemical, nuclear (dirty bombs), cyber, or natural disaster.

Contributors from academia, industry, practitioners, consultants, and policy makers are welcome to write. Contributors are from various disciplines including technology, communication, public policy, public administration, economics, risk and insurance, transportation engineering, and economists.

Please send an abstract to Prof Yoram Shiftan of the Techion at shiftan@technion.ac.il or Prof. Simon Hakim, Dept. of Economics, Temple University hakim@temple.edu.

PROTECTING WATER & WASTEWATER SYSTEMS: AN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE

Professor Simon Hakim of Temple University, and Dr. Robert Clark, formerly of the USEPA invite interested authors to submit an abstract for a chapter in this forthcoming book which is part of a book series on Protecting Critical Infrastructures, Springer Science & Business Media. The first book in this series was on Safeguarding Homeland security: Governors & Mayors Speak Out.

A recently published book by Springer-Science entitled “Handbook for water and wastewater system protection”, edited by Robert Clark, Simon Hakim and Avi Ostfeld, presents state-of-the-art information on the techniques and procedures for the protection of water and wastewater systems against natural and manmade threats. The “handbook” which covers material ranging from physical to cyber threats focuses primarily on US practice. During the course of preparing the “handbook” the editors came to recognize that other countries have very effective policies and practices for protection of critical infrastructure that do not follow the US model. Therefore Clark and Hakim have initiated work on a new volume which will emphasize international practice and approaches to protecting water and wastewater systems.

The new book will review the standard definition of critical infrastructure, and current international agreements, policies and approaches for protecting critical infrastructure. Potential causes of infrastructure failure will be discussed with special emphasis on the electric grid and cyber security. Threats and vulnerabilities to water and wastewater systems and the inherent nature of water and wastewater systems that make them vulnerable will be discussed. The various phases for developing an infrastructure protection program for water and wastewater systems will be reviewed. Finally techniques and case studies that provide guidance for a multilayered security program to protect water and wastewater systems will be presented.

The chapter length should not exceed 30 double spaced pages. If you are interested in joining this effort please send us an abstract of no more than 500 words. The abstracts should be addressed to Professor Hakim at hakim@temple.edu or to Dr. Clark at rmclark@fuse.ne

SECURING FOOD AND AGRICULTURE

Professor Simon Hakim of Temple University and Associate Professor O. Shawn Cupp of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College invite interested authors to submit an abstract for a chapter in a forthcoming book on Securing the Food and Agriculture Sector for the 21st Century which is part of a book series on Protecting Critical Infrastructures, Springer Publishers. The first book in the series was on Safeguarding Homeland Security: Governors & Mayors Speak Out.

The book Securing the Food and Agriculture Sector for the 21st Century is quite inclusive in scope focusing on all aspects of the infrastructure of food and agriculture production, processing, and even food preparation. Chapters may address other issues such as:

pathogens in food and agriculture
procedures in processing food and agricultural products
the federal government’s ability to provide oversight and consumer protection
tracking technologies like Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) for agricultural and food products
innovations in securing the food and agriculture sector
challenges with relying on computer assisted monitoring of food products
markets and future of globalization
unique aspects of agriculture supply and demand
future food and agriculture policy issues
demands placed upon food security organizations in the future
risk analysis of food and agricultural sector subjects of concern

In Press

Handbook of Securing Water and Wastewater Systems – Editors: Robert M. Clark, Simon Hakim, and Avi Ostfeld. Publisher: Springer, Science and Media Business, New York, N.Y.

The Mayors’ Summits

Mayor’s Technology Summit 2013: The Power of Civic Innovation
Mayor’s Technology Summit 2010: The Digital City
Mayors’ Technology Summit 2008: Solutions for Safe Communities and Economic Sustainability
Mayors’ Technology Summit 2004: Homeland Security, Safety and Economic Development
Mayor’s Technology Summit 2003: Homeland Security, Safety and Economic Development
Conference of Mayors and CEOs 2001: Seizing the Opportunity of E-Government
Conference of Mayors 2000: Making Government Work

Presentations & Multimedia

Media Interviews

Power Point Presentations

Mission, Goals & Strategies

The Center for Government and Technology will provide a leadership forum in public management to foster innovative public-private partnership solutions to local government problems. The Center will promote the improvement of the management of local government services, including health and human services, education, public safety, the administration of justice, transportation, and public services using technology and telecommunications through research, education, and public forums.

Download the Presentation on CCG (in PowerPoint format)

Outreach

The Center helps governments identify candidates for privatization and outsourcing, and suggests step-by-step procedures for restructuring public services. The Center organizes conferences, conducts research and consulting projects, publishes reports, books, and articles in academic/professional journals and magazines.

The Center also has substantial experience in conducting large-scale consumer satisfaction surveys for the airport industry. Survey instruments have been developed, verified for statistical significance, and administered to airport passengers and visitors. Center staff have analyzed the results and prepared reports for airport management. Center members have also conducted large-scale consumer surveys for the electronic security industry. They have also participated in surveying a population for regional airport usage. Surveys, especially of airport users, have been an important component of the Center’s activities.

The Center is part of the The Fox School of Business and Management. Dr. Simon Hakim is the director and Drs. Erwin Blackstone, Gary Bowman, Thomas Daymont, and Paul Seidenstat are Research Fellows.