ASPA Center for Accountability & Performance

Give Congress the Data It Needs

The Hill

 Soon, the Supreme Court will decide a case that could severely limit the discretion Congress can give the executive branch in the policymaking process.The fallout from this decision could have a lasting impact on the administrative state and how Congress approaches policymaking. It also raises questions about the ability of Congress — which would be required to adopt a more comprehensive approach to its lawmaking process — to assess the performance of federal programs it is responsible for overseeing when our separation of powers keeps much of the relevant information about these programs within the executive branch.

Resource of the Week: The Sludge Daily

GovNavigators (aka Robert Shea)

A fun one-stop website of news and resources to satisfy the urges of even the most federally-focused government geek. . . . It’s not quite living up to its Daily name, but it is worth periodic visits for updates.

How the DATA Act Came About

Governing

What made it possible to pass the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014? What made it effective? How can we replicate its success in a rapidly changing data landscape? One of its advocates, Amy Edwards Holmes, recounts the story.

A Field Guide for Financing Integrated Data Systems & Evaluation

National Academy of Public Administration

NAPA has launched an effort to produce a plain-language field guide that is widely accepted and understood by agencies across all levels of government, providing an easy-to-use roadmap for financing integrated data systems and evaluation projects that can sustain an audit.

How Nashville Learned to Share Data Across Agencies

Governing

Too often, an agency’s transactional software results in users not having visibility into enterprisewide data that would help them fashion more effective solutions. Enterprise technology, when well utilized, provides a platform for problem solving, coordination and communication, which helps officials and residents alike access and visualize intersecting issues.

OMB Has Taken Action to Implement Cross-Agency Priority Goals for Customer Experience

U.S. Government Accountability Office

GAO reviewed OMB and selected federal agencies’ efforts to improve federal customer experience. This report addresses (1) actions taken by OMB and selected High Impact Service Providers to implement federal customer experience improvements; (2) how well OMB facilitated interagency collaboration related to the five customer life experiences; and (3) the extent to which OMB has overseen and assessed progress on Cross-Agency Priority goals to improve federal customer experience.

Produce Results or Lose Funding

RouteFifty
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox’s message to a room full of homelessness advocates, providers and policymakers: Utah’s homeless system is in for some changes — changes to make sure homeless service providers are producing results toward the state’s goal of reducing homelessness. And if they don’t? They could lose public funding. 

Driving Performance at Brazil’s National Agency for Water and Basic Sanitation

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development

The organizational culture, behavior, actions and governance demonstrated by a regulatory agency for pubic utilities affect how they oversee and perform. OECD’s Performance Assessment Framework was used to assess Brazil’s National Agency for Water and Basic Sanitation and offers recommendations for improvement.

Resource of the Week: Strategic Foresight for US Grand Strategy

Aerospace Corporation

This pilot study demonstrates that structured foresight approaches can strengthen the nation’s ability to develop U.S. National Grand Strategy, which will allow it to better shape and navigate toward its aspirational futures.

Crime, Potholes, Homelessness: Jackson Turns to Data for Answers

Mississippi Today

Jackson is laying the groundwork to use data across city departments and use it to address, initially, youth crime, homelessness and infrastructure needs. 

Navy Looks to Army for More Data Analytics Capability

NextGov/FCW

The Navy wants to piggyback on the Army’s data analytics efforts through a new policy that encourages secure information sharing, the Navy’s chief information officer said.

Performance Management That Puts People First

McKinsey & Co.

Performance management systems for individuals in large organizations help people continuously develop—but most companies fall short of best practices. A set of defined design choices can help guide leaders forward.

The Strategy Room

Alex Brueckmann’s Blog

Brueckmann is an independent consultant specializing in various aspects of Strategy, including strategic foresight and executive leadership. He provides free newsletters and blog posts where he shares useful insights, mainly in the private sector world.

Equitable Data Playbook

U.S. Department of Commerce

This playbook shares best practices and innovations related to data and analytical approaches for improving grant outcomes. Equitable data practices improve the effectiveness and efficiency of federal program dollars through better resource allocation and more informed decision-making.

Resource of the Week: Fiscal 50: State Trends and Analysis, Pew Charitable Trusts

On May 22, experts from The Pew Charitable Trusts launched an online overview of a major update to Fiscal 50, an interactive platform launched in 2013 that provides timely data on and analysis of state fiscal conditions. The new Fiscal 50 allows readers to view, sort, and analyze data on key trends shaping states’ fiscal health now and over the long term.

A Bipartisan Vote for Better Customer Service

Government Executive

Under a House-passed bill, OMB would create metrics and collect data to measure the quality of service delivery by federal agencies. Agency officials would have to establish their own metrics and work throughout various offices and components to ensure compliance, while also collaborating with the new federal lead at OMB.

A Survey of 1 Million Federal Employee Reflects Low Morale

Washington Post

While some agencies have faltered, the 2023 ratings mark the first government-wide increase since 2020 when the coronavirus pandemic wreaked havoc. More than 1 million federal workers from 532 agencies and subcomponents responded to the survey, the greatest response ever in the Best Places rankings.

The Power of Objective Evidence

Urban Institute (Podcast; 25 min.)

Justin Milner, executive vice president of evidence and evaluation at Arnold Ventures, joins Urban Institute executive vice president Kimberlyn Leary for a conversation about the role and challenges of using evidence to shape policy, philanthropy, and learning agendas.

Building a Data-Driven Culture: Three Mistakes to Avoid

MITSloan Management Review

When people resist changing the way they make decisions, well-intentioned data science projects are doomed. Here’s how to overcome key challenges, such as recommendations that were counterintuitive: “The graveyard of data science initiatives is filled with solutions that are advanced, accurate, and well-meaning yet unused.”

Using Foresight to Create the Future We Want

Stanford Social Innovation Review

The future is having a moment. Philanthropic and nonprofit organizations can use the foresight tools long championed by private industry to build more desirable futures for their communities.

Resource of the Week: A Futures Guidebook: A Curriculum for Anticipatory Governance

Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development

OECD identified what is available, what works, and what is still missing in equipping public officials with the tools, mindsets, and practical approaches to build anticipatory innovation into their governance, policy-making, and service delivery work.

Veterans Affairs Department Urged to Tighten Contract Performance Standards

NextGov

Three Democratic senators are pressing the Department of Veterans Affairs to prioritize stronger accountability standards as it negotiates a new one-year contract with Oracle Cerner to deliver its electronic health record system. 

Blueprint for Using Behavioral Science in Evidence-Based Policymaking

White House Office of Science and Technology Policy

Successfully leveraging social and behavioral science allows the federal government to produce more efficient and effective efforts with more positive, meaningful, and equitable outcomes for all individuals. The failure to understand and address the social and behavioral dimensions of issues reduces effectiveness of policies, programs, and outcomes for the American public and risks unintended consequences.

Baltimore County Debuts Its New Strategic Plan

National Academy of Public Administration

The goals of the plan – which include facilitating vibrant communities, equitable decision making, workforce empowerment, and government accountability – all reflect back on NAPA’s Grand Challenges to help drive public administration into a brighter future.

Why Infrastructure Is So Hard to Fix

TIME 

Great piece on how a consortium of civil society groups have come together to support the Local Infrastructure Hub to navigate federal grant application and reporting processes, lamenting: “ Technical assistance, and, critically, support for local innovation, data, and project management muscle should be built into federal investments.”

Resource of the Week:

An Evaluation Policy Guide: Results for America

This Guide is intended to help government policymakers trying to make better decisions and deliver faster results. Governments are at different stages of their evaluation and data-driven decision-making journeys. This Guide was developed to support both building new evaluation policies and evolving current practices.