Provide the opportunity to build upon research studies already going on in the public sector; to encourage the selection of research topics which are more driven by the concerns of practitioners; to expand existing research by providing a comparative perspective across jurisdictions and regions; to enable IPAC to play its role as a "bridging" national network of regional groups to propose and help define topics as well as to regional groups to propose and help define topics as well as to suggest members who can contribute their ideas, and expertise as participants