Process Technology for Achieving Government Online Dispute Resolution

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Process Technology for Achieving Government
Online Dispute Resolution

• Ethan Katsh Leon J. Osterweil
• Norman K. Sondheimer
• University of Massachusetts Amherst
• Daniel Rainey
• National Mediation Board

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A Federal/University Partnership to bring
Computer-enabled Facilitation to Government
Dispute Resolution
Center for Information Technology and Dispute
Resolution
Electronic Enterprise Institute
National Center of Automated Information
Research Hewlett Foundation Markle Foundation
National Science Foundation Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency
Active Involvement, Support for Software
Development
Air Rail
Labor Management
Mediation, Facilitation, Representation and
Arbitration
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Scientific Research Objectives

• Hypotheses
• Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) can improve
  efficiency, effectiveness and fairness in
  Government dispute resolution.
• Government ODR processes can be represented
  clearly, completely, and precisely, enabling
  their objective and definitive evaluation by
  rigorous analyzers.
• Process Technology-based Participatory Design
  Methods can improve efficiency, effectiveness and
  fairness in the design of Government ODR
  processes.

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Accomplishments
Modeled NMB Grievance MediationProcess in
Little-JIL, UMass Formal Process Modeling
Language(Top Level Only Shown)
Prototype Brainstorming Tool Created Based on
Grievance Mediation Process Model
Screen Capture Here
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Management Structure
Leadership Team
Leon J. Osterweil, PI Ethan Katsh Norman K.
Sondheimer Process Technology ODR
Participatory Design
Daniel Rainey Volunteer Dispute
Resolution Participants Grievance Mediation
Airlines, Railroads and Unions (To be
announced)

• Research Plan
• Iterative development
• Each iteration includes specify-design-build-run/
  evaluate sequence of expanded capability
• Evaluation based on extensive pre-test survey of
  NMB clients

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Success Stories

• Prototype Brainstorming Tested internally at NMB
  and
• scheduled for use with live cases in Spring.
• Prototype Presented to Mediation Community
• US Government Interagency Alternative Dispute
  Resolution Working Group
• Association for Conflict Resolution
• American Bar Association
• Cyberweek Online Conference
• Third International Workshop on Online Dispute
  Resolution Keynote

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Goals for Broad Impact

• 80 Federal agencies with Alternative Dispute
  Resolution (ADR) and Inter-agency ADR working
  group
• American Bar Association Section on Dispute
  Resolution
• United Nations Online Dispute Resolution Working
  Group
• Association for Conflict Resolution
• CITDR online courses and training

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Challenges/Barriers

• Digital Government Systems Development
• Establishing cooperation between organizations
• Reducing managements risk of change
• Creating models of previously informal processes
• Extending and applying formal analysis and
  testing technology

• Online Dispute Resolution
• Maintaining confidentiality
• Creation of records only where requested
• Retaining the positive aspects of face-to-face
  negotiation

Differences in language and culture between
technology and application domains
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Research value when working in Digital Government
domain

• Centrality Government based on democracy to the
  point that petitioning for redress of
  grievances is a 1st Amendment right
• Difficulty Government greater privacy and other
  rights concerns provide guidance to private
  sector
• Difficulty United States system of Checks and
  Balances allows agency autonomy that makes
  creating Digital Government harder than in the
  private sector which has levers to require
  department cooperation in digital business
  creation

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Recommendations for improving Digital Government
program

• Obtain Invitations for PIs to attend relevant
  Government Meetings and Conferences
• Help researcher gain admission to venues where
  validation of research could be facilitated
• Help government gain expedited access to
  prototype technologies to help them do their work
  better