From Collaboration to Action: How NSF’s Smart and Connected Communities Program Shapes Non-Academic Smart Initiatives

• In Event: The Role of Policy Design and Implementation in Shaping Energy Program Performance

Abstract

Collaborative governance has been widely studied as an effective approach to addressing complex, cross-sectoral, and cross-jurisdictional challenges by integrating governmental and non-governmental actors and leveraging their specialized knowledge. While much of this literature focuses on outcomes such as stakeholder participation, policy effectiveness, and consensus-building, less is known about how collaborative governance influences participating stakeholders' proactive engagement in related policy areas. In particular, we lack a clear understanding of the mechanisms that promote broader and more substantive stakeholder involvement beyond formal participation. This study addresses these gaps by examining the influence of collaborations formed through the National Science Foundation (NSF)’s Smart and Connected Communities (S&CC) program on the smart initiatives undertaken by non-academic stakeholders—including local agencies, industry partners, and NGOs. The S&CC program, initiated by the NSF and led by academic researchers, fosters collaboration with various non-academic actors. Using an event study approach, we analyze changes in the number of smart initiatives undertaken by these non-academic actors before and after participating in S&CC projects.

Our dependent variable captures the number of smart initiatives publicly reported on the official websites and social media platforms of participating non-academic organizations. Key explanatory variables include: (1) resource availability, measured by whether the stakeholder served as a co-PI (indicating direct funding); (2) type of involvement, coded as either one-way or two-way collaborative activities; and (3) level of involvement, measured by the number of collaborative activities. We control for organizational type and category as well. Using a Negative Binomial random effects model, our preliminary findings show that participation in the S&CC program is associated with a significant increase in the number of smart initiatives across all three non-academic sectors. Among them, local agencies demonstrate the largest increase, followed by industry and NGOs. Furthermore, we find that stakeholders who received funding as co-PIs and those engaged in more reciprocal (two-way) collaboration activities were significantly more likely to expand their smart initiatives. These results suggest that deeper, mutually beneficial partnerships are key drivers of substantive stakeholder engagement.

Overall, this study highlights the catalytic role of the NSF S&CC program in stimulating smart initiatives among non-academic organizations, especially local agencies. By unpacking the structural and relational mechanisms behind these collaborations, our findings offer actionable insights for designing more effective cross-sector partnerships to advance smart community development.

Authors

• Tian Luo, Florida State University
  Presenting Author

• Xue Gao, Florida State University
  Non-Presenting Co-Author