Solutions Sharing Network: A global initiative for the public sector
 | All government agencies share common technological and administrative challenges. By taking advantage of the Solutions Sharing Network, Local government in Ireland has been able to establish a valuable knowledge bank that will bring tremendous benefit to our community. The development of an SSN is a significant step forward in sharing and collaborative technologies for ICT communities across all governments. |  | | Tim Willoughby
Assistant Director
Local government Computer Services Board | |
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On numerous occasions, government customers have asked Microsoft to help them improve applications they have created on a Microsoft platform and share those more robust applications with other governments. In response to this request, Microsoft has created the Solutions Sharing Network Program (SSN). The aim of the program is to drive the sharing of Information Technology solutions and best practices within Public Sector technical communities. It is a global initiative that aims to develop and share effective solutions while promoting increased collaboration among those who work in government organizations, academic institutions, and other public sector agencies.
The Microsoft-based SSN focuses on 4 key areas:
1. | Identifying and encouraging the use of compelling content that can deliver incremental benefit to public sector; or which inspires new thinking and solutions. |
2. | Supporting a range of worldwide community events, the aim of which is to promote collaboration between people and spark innovation. |
3. | Provision of a custom, Microsoft-based, SSN Portal to give people collaborative access to public sector solutions. |
4. | Engagement with research to better understand the dynamics of sharing within public sector. |
Benefits of SSN
The SSN is designed to help governments and other public-sector customers share knowledge across an entire IT and project life cycle, from project inception through post mortem. The Program offers:
| • | Increased knowledge sharing. |
| • | Increased collaboration. |
| • | Code sharing and code reuse. |
| • | Increased compliance to shared standards. |
| • | An efficient use of time and resources. |
| • | Reduced project startup time. |
| • | Support of distributed development approaches |
| • | Promotion of best practices, including code development, change management, and project management. |
Organizations Using SSN
The network has been successfully used by people in a variety of public-sector organizations, including national, regional, and local government agencies, as well as universities and research organizations.
Focus on Community and Collaboration
The main goal of the SSN platform is to host a catalogued repository of knowledge around which a community of peers can collaborate. This collaboration facilitates the sharing of knowledge and reduces the cost and time required to develop effective solutions.
Depending on need, governments, organizations, and agencies can either contribute or draw solutions from an SSN portal. Creating a sense of community, clarity, and balance among stakeholders is key to building trust and value in the network.
SSN can also be used by academic institutions to advance education and research around open application development. That same catalog may be used to promote the benefits of sharing knowledge, solutions, and technical information between both commercial and non-commercial organizations and institutions.
Role of Participating Organizations
SSN Program participants that engage in deploying a portal in collaboration with Microsoft fall into one or more of these categories:
| • | Hosting partners—In partnership with Microsoft, the hosting partner is responsible for running and maintaining the SSN environment at the center of your community. |
| • | Community Owner or Member—The SSN portal consists of many communities with different areas of focus. Each community has an owner, or a leadership group, and any number of active participants and members. |
Access and Eligibility
We would like to encourage all of our public sector customers to participate in the SSN Program. Please contact the public sector team in your local subsidiary to learn more.
Additional Information
For additional information on the SSN, or to find your local representative, please e-mail: solshare@microsoft.com.
We would like to encourage all of our public sector customers to participate in the SSN Program. We offer a general purpose solutions sharing site covering a wide range of public sector topics at http://solshare.net.
