ASPA Center for Accountability & Performance

Management
Federal government’s employer brand is in trouble
Jeff Neal, Federal News Network
Employer branding is one of the chief battlefields in the fight for talent. The government is not well-positioned for that fight.
Army begins study to change its talent management system to fit the future
Scott Maucione, Federal News Network
The Army is undertaking a sweeping study of its talent management system to improve its ability to recruit, retain and advance its talent.

Analytics/Evaluation
The New Practice of Public Problem Solving
Tara McGuinness and Anne-Marie Slaughter, Stanford Social Innovation Review
A new class of innovators is advancing the public good by figuring out what people actually need and then testing, improving, and scaling solutions that may already be out there. Here are the four elements of their method.
Data-Driven Government: The Role of Chief Data Officers
Jane Wiseman, IBM Center for the Business of Government
This report focuses on the expanding use of data at the federal level and how to best manage it.

Efficiency
How the Government Could Successfully Leverage Its Buying Power
John Kamensky, Government Executive
The UK offers some insight for achieving this decades-long quest.

Innovation
Creating space for innovation
Troy Schneider, Federal Computer Week
True innovation requires the right people, the proper mix of technologies and a critical grasp of customers’ needs and expectations.

Management
Winning and Losing the HR Game
Howard Risher, Government Executive
Using the same metrics across federal agencies could highlight the best and worst performers.

Innovation
Trump signs order to accelerate AI development
Derek Johnson, Federal Computer Week
The White House issued an executive order Feb. 11 directing federal agencies to invest more money and resources into the development and promotion of artificial intelligence technologies.
Finding the Sweet Spot for Innovation Within Government Systems
Sharath Jeevan, Reinier Terwindt, James Townsend, and Nithya Gurukumar, Stanford Social Innovation Review
Three guiding principles for non-profits looking to find where they best fit within government-run systems and ensure long-term impact.
Philadelphia’s Internal Innovation Consultancy Gets Results
Zack Quaintance, Federal Computer Week
The consulting program is an internal version of a service that government has long had to contract from the outside, and it fits in with Philadelphia’s extant Innovation Academy, Lab and Fund programs.

Open Government
The future of the OPEN Government Data Act relies largely on what CDOs do with it
Tajha Chappellet-Lanier, FedScoop
While some agencies already have Chief Data Officers, many don’t. With a push from this new law that’s about to change.

Management
Study: Federal Workforce Is on the Verge of Catastrophe
Erich Wagner, Government Executive
Without a significant overhaul, agencies may fail to provide adequate services when they are needed most, researchers found.

Analytics/Evaluation
Building a Culture of Informed Decision Making
John Kamensky, Government Executive
A new law aims to institutionalize an evidence-driven culture in agencies. Implementation won’t be easy.

Leadership
From Classical Management to Behavioral Transformation
Nathan Furr, Kyle Nel, and Thomas Zoëga Ramsøy, Stanford Social Innovation Review
An excerpt from Leading Transformation on the “Behavioral Innovation Manifesto.”

Open Government
Open-data law walks fine line keeping info ‘as open as possible’
Jory Heckman, Federal News Network
The OPEN Government Data Act requires agencies to appoint a chief data officer to help them develop a comprehensive data inventory the public can access.
Valuable, messy and contentious: How big data became ‘new oil’
Jory Heckman, Federal News Network
While agency IT officials recognize the OPEN Government Data Act presents opportunities to get more value out of their data, they also see challenges in preparing the workforce to manage all that data.
Even with law, open government still depends on those in charge
Chase Gunter, Federal Computer Week
With the passage of the OPEN Government Data Act, openness is now the default setting for federal data, but success still depends on buy-in at agencies.

Management
Reconstructing the Administrative State
Donald Kettl and Paul Verkuil, Government Executive
Five ways to recover from the shutdown.
Employees Should Be Managed as Valued Assets
Howard Risher, Government Executive
Good government will never be achieved without a well-qualified and committed workforce.
The earthquake that may cause a retirement tsunami
Jeff Neal, Federal News Network
Another government shutdown may be the earthquake that causes the retirement tsunami to finally strike.

Customer Service
Customer Satisfaction Drops Across Federal Government
Frank Konkel, Nextgov
The federal government’s 11-year high in customer satisfaction—achieved last year following two years of progress—was short-lived.

Innovation
Five Paradoxes of an Innovation Culture
John Kamensky, Government Executive
They’re hard to create, and hard to sustain.
GAO creates new team to ‘enhance and expand’ science and technology work
Tajha Chappellet-Lanier, FedScoop
GAO has created a new team to focus on its science and technology work, as the congressional agency aims to meet the increasing demand for access to such expertise.
Harnessing Innovation in the Opioid Fight
James Oddo, Governing
Civic hackathons are one way to build new tools that can augment existing efforts to combat the epidemic.
Cultivating, Not Just Calculating, Social Impact
Moaz Brown, Stanford Social Innovation Review
A new impact investing metric can not only help investors estimate the social impact of their investments, but also foster more thoughtful strategies for promoting social and environmental good.
How Artificial Intelligence Can Transform Government
Steve Bennett, Nextgov
Private businesses already use AI to find efficiencies in their own business and improve the return-on-investment of products and projects.

Management
Last One Out, Turn Off the Lights
Howard Risher, Government Executive
For years, academics and civil service watchers have been warning about the coming retirement wave of federal workers. It may very well be upon us.
Amid government shutdown, commission wants to make public service popular again
Nicole Ogrysko, Federal News Network
Congress tasked an 11-member Commission on Military, National and Public Service back in 2015 to find ways to encourage more Americans to serve their country.
Navy needs to follow these steps to make pay for performance work
Scott Maucione, Federal News Network
As the Navy announces the start of its first ever pay for performance pilot, the initiative will have to contend with the mixed history of similar programs in the civilian Defense realm.

Analytics/Evaluation
Evidence-based policy bill passage sets stage for upcoming federal data strategy
Jory Heckman, Federal News Network
Stakeholders and former government officials who laid the groundwork for the passage of a landmark data transparency bill say the new law will help pave the way for a broader federal data strategy the Trump administration expects to roll out in the coming weeks.
Opportunity is knocking: Create an evidence-based culture with new policymaking law
Robert Shea and Robert Hahn, Federal News Network
Robert Shea and Robert Hahn, members of the U.S. Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking, offer six ideas for agencies to begin taking advantage of new evidence-based policymaking law.
One Small Step for Sensible Policymaking
Peter Orszag, Bloomberg
President Trump just signed a new law to help measure the effectiveness of government programs. That’s good, but not good enough.

Customer Service
How End-User Feedback Can Become a Nonprofit’s Innovation Engine
Frank Daidone and Benilda Samuels, Stanford Social Innovation Review
Nurse-Family Partnership has institutionalized the practice of gathering end-user and partner feedback, influencing changes to its systems, services, and business model.