Building a network implies maintaining contact and providing network participants with information. The traditional means for discussing information in the United Nations is the expert group meeting. These are costly and involve few participants. This type of technology is not available in the headquarters of organisations of the United Nations system, where security considerations built into firewalls make real-time chats impossible. Comparative research, where commonalities and differences between countries are important for policy formulation, is difficult to organize.
Comparative research requires agreement about basic concepts and research methods to be employed.
It has been historically difficult to organize this on a large scale and as a result, there is less comparative research related to advancement of women than would be desirable. While this would have to be discussed in an inter-agency context, clearly the area of women's political participation is an area that is difficult for international organisations to work, because politics is seen as a domestic concern. This would allow a large variety of academic and non-governmental researchers to interact in ways that would not have been possible a few years ago. It would help stimulate comparative research. A research institute should not be structured or managed like a government agency.