Building on the lessons of networks studies focusing on function rather than form and the close relation between both, the problem of definition of networks is addressed here by considering the possible functions that they can play to link up the various processes that allow the bridging of research and policy. To do so, we take Richard Portes' and Stephen Yeo's (2004a; 2000b; Portes and Yeo, 2001) suggestion that networks can fulfil six, non-exclusive functions (click on the links to view information on each function):

1. Filter
   
2. Amplify
   
3. Invest/provide
   
4. Convene
   
5. Build Communities
   
6. Facilitate

It is important to emphasise that these roles are not exclusive; most networks can play more than one role. This is not under discussion here since, in fact, most successful networks do. What is important, however, is to recognise that not all networks can play all roles and that some networks can only play certain roles: those they were designed for. It will also be useful to understand the processes through which networks can carry out more than one function. Is there a sequencing patter that networks have to follow? For example, do community building networks need to become filtering networks before they can act as amplifiers?

These functions are explored in the following subsections and some examples of specific actions carried out under each are offered.

Filter

The filtering function of a network allows unmanageable amounts of information to be organised and used in a productive way. Filters 'decide' what information is worth paying attention to. This function, unlike the others, is a passive one. Other networks or actors or other functions within the network collect and provide the information to the filter. Media content editors often carryout filtering functions by 'deciding' what is disseminated to the general public. Filtering networks can provide policymakers with a similar service. Ministers and members of parliament, for instance, have networks of advisors and informers that filter evidence and research on any one particular subject and provide them with, hopefully, the necessary information they need to make a policy decision.

Lessons from the GDN BRP project also suggest that think tanks can fulfil a filtering function. Think tanks in Argentina, for instance, can filter the evidence from several researcher sources. Similarly, expert working groups appointed by policymakers to help on specific policy issues filter alternatives and ideas to arrive to policy recommendations.

Some of the activities, projects and programmes carried out by networks under their filtering function are:

• Job opportunities listings
  
• DevelopmentEx databases of bidding opportunities from main donors
  
• ALNAP classifies and organises documents and resources on different subjects for easier access
  
• Advisory boards or groups synthesise the opinions of experts
  
• Conflicttransformation.org provide information on scholarships, courses and conferences to members
  
• Periodic newsletter with key research findings from members' projects
  
• The Combined Harare Residents' Association filters the concerns, complaints and recommendations of the citizens of Harare
  
• The FANCA network publishes news summaries relevant for its members

For an example of a network fulfilling filtering functions, see information on the Development Executive Group

Amplify

Amplifying functions of networks, as well as filters, are more clearly related to the roles that the media play (in fact, the media plays both roles). Amplifiers help take an idea or a message from a private or complex state and transfer it to a public or simple - or understandable - one. Advocacy or campaigning organisations or alliances such as Greenpeace, Oxfam or the Jubilee Campaign are examples of amplifying networks. The media also plays an amplifying function by disseminating stories and ideas to a wider audience; which suggests that networks can play multiple functions. In a media network, some participants (the journalists), amplify the stories by communicating them from the periphery (the field) to the centre (newsroom). Other members of the network (the editors) then filter those stories deciding which ones are communicated to the wider audience.

Amplifying, however, can serve several roles. Amplification can be used to disseminate a message or idea; it can involve a communication processes (which involves a two way relations); and it can be used to manage others.

Dissemination functions amplify a message outwards. Academic journals are often organised as networks of global, regional or national editors to capture current research on specific subjects and amplify their messages by publishing research in the form of papers and articles. (These editors in turn are acting as filters of information.) Many networks advocating for policy change in the global arena are arranged as such to amplify the messages of individual partners.

Communicating functions, on the other hand, involve a two-way process. Community educators' networks can amplify health and nutritional messages through rural areas but also amplify the messages of the poor back to the planners of the health and nutritional policies. Communication also assumes that the receiver understands the message; we cannot be satisfied with him or her listening to it. And because it is a two-way process, relations among members of these networks would fluctuate between teacher-pupil and colleague.

The management function is more clearly observed when the message or the information is amplified within an organisation or a network to obtain a specific re-action from the staff or network members relevant to the running of the organisation. For instance, the GDN informs the network members of the details of the next GDN conference and of their individual responsibilities with respect to its organisation.

Some of the activities, projects and programmes carried out by networks under their amplifying function are:

• The Fairtrade foundation licenses the Fairtrade brand
  
• ACBF network publishes member's working papers
  
• DSA newsletter announcing upcoming conference and other network related activities
  
• CIVICUS newsletter with communications (job opportunities, call for papers, book launch announcements, etc.) from members
  
• The World Bank's 'Voices of the Poor' project
  
• A PRA process
  
• The Make Poverty History white wristbands campaign to raise awareness and fund on the 2005 agenda

For an example of a network fulfilling amplifying functions, see information on The Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance

Invest / Provide

Investing networks offer a channel to provide members with the resources they need to carryout their main activities. The ACBF in Africa, for instance, provides resources in the form of technical assistance, skills and funding to its research partners. Investor/provider networks can take many forms and may involve the distribution of goods and services from within the network (member led) or outside the network (acting as brokers).

Broker investor/provider networks act mostly as facilitators connecting, for instance, donors and trainers with network members. The ACBF, AERC and SISERA are examples of such networks. The ACBF, in Africa, provides resources in the form of technical assistance, skills and funding to its research partners. CIES in Peru distributes research grants among its members to promote local research. And the DEC in the UK acted as a provider of funds to its members -as well as an amplifier of the plight of the Boxing Day tsunami victims and as a facilitator for the support from the general public. In these cases, funds come from outside the network with the central hub acting as a broker between supply and demand.

The Development Executive Group described above is another example of a networked organisation acting as a broker.

Some of the activities, projects and programmes carried out by networks under their investor/provider functions are:

• CIES assigns research grants to members via annual contests
  
• RedR offers training in disaster and humanitarian relief to members and non members
  
• The DEC distributed funds collected from donations to its member humanitarian agencies
  
• MediCam provides its members with access to training opportunities organised by the network and others

For an example of a network fulfilling investing/providing functions, see information on the Consorcio de Investigación Económica y Social (CIES), Perú

Convene

Convening networks bring together different individuals and groups. In the case of research, a convening network would bring researchers together to plan and carryout research; it would, for instance, convene researchers from different nationalities or disciplines. A convening network can also bring together users of the products or services of networks or their members: for instance, policy makers looking for advice or ideas. The functions of a convening network go beyond filtering and amplifying and require the ability to reach out to very specific audiences in several sectors and levels. Issues of authority structures, logistical capacities, credibility and media, communication and dissemination skills require special attention. An example of a convenor is a public private consultation group that brings together policy makers and interest groups or the GDN.

The convening functions of a network, unlike the amplifying ones, require that the audience be more narrowly defined: it is made up of either members of the network or very specific groups such as public and private decision makers. Hence, a convening network must develop context and audience specific tools to communicate and disseminate its goods. Similarly, the network filters the information and messages of the members as they come together. This supposes that a common agenda is set during a clear convening process.

Another important aspect of these types of networks is that in some cases, their main function is, in fact, bridging research and policy. Convening networks allow the development of systematic and sustainable linkages between researchers and policymakers (or between research and policy). Unlike amplifying networks, convening networks need to carryout systematic and elaborate strategies to inform policy processes and plan the research of their members accordingly. Similarly, they filter evidence to respond to a highly informed and specialised demand. This means that convening networks will most likely have a more elaborate structure than other networks and therefore prove more difficult to create and manage. Unfortunately, it is these networks what resource strapped researchers need to increase their chances of affecting policy processes.

This brief review of convening networks suggests that they must also fulfil other functions such as filtering, amplifying and community building. In fact, we could say that convening networks depict a higher state of network functional development. And this means that it is possible to conceive a sequence in network development that may culminate in a convening network in which all other functions come together.

Some of the activities, projects and programmes carried out by networks under their convening functions are:

• The GDN conference brought together actors from development agencies, public sector, civil society and the private sector
  
• ODI meeting sessions often include participants from different areas of the development sector
  
• The Coalition 2000 has developed programmes specifically designed to work with different actors: local authorities, civil society, journalists, educators, the private sector, etc.

For an example of a network fulfilling convening functions, see information on the Coalition 2000

Build communities

Community building functions promote and sustain the values and standards of a network of individuals or groups. Community building networks can work towards the formation of informal neighbourhood groups, formal research communities and even 'expatriate' communities. Community building functions illustrate another aspect of networks that is important to keep in mind: some exist as a means of supporting a type of community; if they did not exist, the community would disappear. For instance, community networks such as neighbourhood associations that come together to promote their livelihoods: a 'neighbourhood watch' or a 'street-vendors association' (Aliaga, n.d.). Their members initially unite neither to communicate a message nor to invest in each other but to protect themselves from outside threats. In some cases they begin to provide services to the members and act as amplifiers of their problems to a wider audience but this is often not their primary function and therefore they are not organisationally prepared for it.

Some, however, do make the transition from community builders to amplifiers and conveners and then impact on policy improves. These cases are particularly important because they constitute the few cases in which networks are legitimately representative of the poor (see for instance the experiences of Aliaga, n.d.; Forni and Longo, 2004).

Community building networks are also related to trade networks such as the DevelopmentEx or the DSA that provide a space in which a community of professionals and institutions working in development can come together. Although it provides a series of services to its members (investor/provider function), its main objective is to sustain and promote their own activities thus strengthening the community as a whole. As a consequence it is less useful as a means to communicate with non-members.

A research community network might be faced with a structure that supports and promotes its member's research efforts but might be unable to provide the adequate linkages to policymakers. The literature on social capital provides interesting examples of community building networks that develop several strong links within the network but none or few weak links to others. Unfortunately for those interested in bridging research and policy, community building networks provide the right environment for the development of good quality research -they are effective in producing, sharing and advancing knowledge among researchers- but are not effective in promoting it or linking to more policy oriented networks without reducing its research capacity.

Some of the activities, projects and programmes carried out by networks under their community building function are:

• The DSA annual meeting provides networking opportunities and offers members a showcase for their research products (e.g. publications) and research work (e.g. workshops)
  
• ALNAP meetings offer members an opportunity to meet each other and strengthen bonds ands relations
  
• CIVICUS newsletters offer members information about what other members are working on
  
• The DevelopmentEx provides members with a series of services and spaces for information exchange
  
• A professional or trade union is a closely knit structure of individuals with the same professional practice and offers capacity building opportunities to its members
  
• A street vendors' association organises meetings with other street vendors' association to share experiences

For an example of a network fulfilling community building functions, see information on Civicus

Facilitate

Facilitating functions help members carryout their activities more efficiently and effectively. In the case of research networks these might include the organisation of conferences and meeting, publishing working papers and policy briefs and providing mentoring to researchers or key individuals. Facilitator networks, like facilitators at a workshop help make things happen but do not need to be involved with the member's work.

Facilitating functions are the hardest to differentiate from the others because, in theory, networks are created to facilitate the achievement of any particular objective. In this case, facilitation refers to the actions of networks that are different from those that are the main actions of the network's members.

Some of the activities, projects and programmes carried out by networks under their facilitating function are:

• MediCam hosts a series of resources (online databases, libraries) useful for NGOs working in the health sector in Cambodia
  
• MediCam also provides orientation services for new arrivals to Cambodia working for the network's members
  
• DevelopmentEx facilitates provides bidding information from several donors making consultants work easier
  
• DevelopmentEx also facilitates hiring procedures by filtering possible candidates using a means-tested search engine
  
• The UNDP SURFS network reduces distances between practitioners and experts by providing members with quick answers from experts in other UNDP offices

For an example of a network fulfilling facilitating functions, see information on MediCam

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