Performance Management
What Performance Management Is and Is Not
Robert Behn, Government Executive
The phrase is often used when all anyone is doing is collecting data.
With Big Data Comes Bigger Goals
Mark Funkhouser, Governing
Today’s performance management tools eliminate the old ways of thinking about what government can and can’t do.

Analytics/Evaluation
Watchdog: Budget Cuts, Lack of Centralized Authority Hurting Program Evaluation
Charles Clark, Government Executive
Agency efforts to incorporate more evidence in program evaluation are uneven, in part because many lack a central authority and in part because budget cuts have crimped attendance at relevant professional conferences.
GAO: Agencies not using performance data to decide policy, budget changes
Jory Heckman, Federal News Radio
A summary of GAO’s recent report on agency evaluation practices.
Three Key Ingredients to Build an Investigative Analytics Unit
Brian Murrow, Business of Government
Steve Beltz is the Assistant Director of the Recovery Operation Center of the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, which provides transparency of ARRA-related funds and detects and prevents fraud, waste, and mismanagement of those funds.

Innovation
Measuring the Impact of Public Innovation in the Wild
Beth Noveck, Governing
A foundation-backed “research institution without walls” is studying new strategies for tackling tough problems.
Innovation: It Isn’t for Everyone
Colin Wood, Government Technology
A new paper shows that innovation isn’t a solution, but another project that not everyone is ready to manage.