The role of intermediate network organizations in creating collaboration networks: Exploratory analysis of an international professional association as a heuristic device

Wen B, Horlings B, van der Zouwen M, van Vierssen W, Van Den Besselaar. The role of intermediate network organizations in creating collaboration networks: Exploratory analysis of an international professional association as a heuristic device. Oral presentation at 2017 SciTS Conference. Clearwater Beach, FL. Jun 13, 2017. Collaborations Across Academia, Industry, And Government. Online at: http://www.scienceofteamscience.org/2017-agenda.

Understanding professional networks in a global context is important for the development of a collaborative knowledge infrastructure. Little is known about the role of professional associations and network organizations in the organization of interactions between industry, science, and government and even less is known about the ways in which individuals search for and establish interactions. Most existing studies are built up on the scholarly co-authorship networks out of bibliometric databases. In contrast to this approach, we use attendance data (conference, specialist groups, and thematic programs) from the International Water Association (IWA) to explore heterogeneous network formation. This is done by analyzing the co-attendance behavior among the various groups professionals in the water domain.