ASPA Center for Accountability & Performance

Performance Management
Agencies Reveal New Priority Goals in Budget
John Kamensky, Business of Government
The President’s FY 2019 budget released in mid-February was accompanied by a set of statutorily-required “Agency Priority Goals” and four-year strategic plans.
GSA merges shared services team and management councils into new office
Carten Cordell, FedScoop
GSA’s 2019 budget justification includes a request to help fund a new office merging the Trump administration’s shared services and performance management strategies.

Analytics/Evaluation
How States Use Data to Inform Decisions
Pew Charitable Trusts
A national review of the use of administrative data to improve state decision-making.
The Evolving Nature of State Data Work
Zack Quaintance, Government Technology
States have emphasized data work more lately — but where do they go from here?

Customer Service
Report: Effective Government Outreach Requires Social Media
Elizabeth Zima, Government Technology
The role of social media in citizen-government interactions has steadily increased in recent years as the public becomes more reliant on the medium for real-time information.

Open Government
How government data is at risk
Chase Gunter, Federal Computer Week
Open data advocates and former government employees have concerns about the fate of open government data, especially with budget and staffing cuts and surrounding topics that face increased politicization and contentiousness.

Analytics/Evaluation
The Importance of Celebrating Data Wins
Zack Quintance, Government Technology
Former and current gov tech leaders say talking about successful projects is key to advancing innovation work.

Leadership
New Federal Senior Executives Are Being Left in the Dark As They Start Their Jobs
Eric Katz, Government Executive
Survey finds only half of incoming SESers are satisfied with the onboarding process.

Management
How to improve organizational performance in your agency’s unit
Nahal Amouzadeh, Federal News Radio
The National Academy of Public Administration has released a paper offering a new data-driven management improvement approach that could transform federal agencies unit-by-unit.
Performance Management is Not a Contest
Howard Risher, Government Executive
The author argues the administration is sending the wrong message with its fund for targeted pay incentives.
How Agencies Can Improve Grant Management
Jeff Myers, Jenata Spencer, and Shelly Slebrch, Government Executive
Better information sharing and coordination should be top priorities.

Analytics/Evaluation
Evidence Provisions in the Trump Budget
Patrick Lester, Social Innovation Research Center
Highlights for some of the most prominent evidence-related programs.
Pay for Success Legislation Becomes Law
Patrick Lester, Social Innovation Research Center
Legislation will create a new $100 million program to fund pay-for-success projects.
Wins for data and evidence-based policy in the bipartisan budget deal: An interview with Nick Hart, Bipartisan Policy Center
Andy Feldman, GovInnovator Podcast
The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 contains several noteworthy bright spots in the use of data and evidence-based policy.

Innovation
3 Tips for Managing Innovation
Corner Alliance
It’s more about implementation and execution than it is about inspiration.
The rise and fall of 18F
Daniel Castro, Fedscoop
Employment numbers have dropped steadily at 18F over the past year. This means that virtually the entire staff, who are hired for two-year terms with an option to extend for a second term, will be gone before Trump’s first term is over.

Management
White House’s management agenda to help with ‘deep-seated transformation’ effort
Jason Miller, Federal News Radio
With the goal of taking on “deep-seated transformation” across the federal government, President Donald Trump is outlining six broad areas in his inaugural management agenda.
Senate Confirms Trump’s Top Management Nominee
Eric Katz, Government Executive
Margaret Weichert has promised strategic approach to workforce reduction and hiring reforms.
Pay for Performance is Needed
Howard Risher, Government Executive
The highest hurdle promises to be creating performance processes that generate credible and defensible ratings.

Reorganization
Transferring Responsibilities and Consolidating Offices Highlight Trump Reorganization Plan
Eric Katz, Government Executive
Long-awaited agency reform plans offer light details, promises of future reforms proposals.

Analytics/Evaluation
The Big Deal About Big Data
Donald Kettl, Government Executive
Ten reasons why big data is more than just the next step in the ongoing evolution in government performance.
Justice taps big data in investigations
Mark Rockwell, Federal Computer Week
Advanced analytics are playing an increasingly important role in the Department of Justice’s financial fraud and drug trafficking investigations.
Why evaluation policies are useful to results-focused federal agencies: An interview with Naomi Goldstein, HHS, and Molly Irwin, DOL
Andy Feldman, Gov Innovator Podcast
A small but growing number of federal departments and agencies have created evaluation policies that describe the principles that those agencies seek to promote when they conduct program evaluations.
Threats to Government Data Are Threats to Democracy
Andre Perry and Katherine Guyot, Government Executive
Researchers highlight the many ways federally-collected data shape Americans’ lives.

Customer Service
Understaffing, lack of training at agencies hampering agency services to public, personnel agency says
Eric Yoder, Washington Post
Shortages of employees — a common feature of troubled government programs — are hampering a range of services to the public.

Innovation
Geeks Come to the Government’s Rescue
Tod Newcombe, Governing
The organization some refer to as “the Peace Corps for geeks” has launched a major effort to improve the way people apply for benefits.
Not All Innovation Projects Are Born Equal
Alan Pentz, Government Executive
Government innovators can provide minimal proof of concept funding and gate further investment based on a few key milestones.

Performance Management
Next Steps in Improving Government Performance
John Kamensky, Business of Government
Have government reformers put the chicken before the egg? For years, their attention has been on improving performance by focusing on program results.
Reflections on Reform: Implementing Management Reform
John Kamensky and Mark Abramson, Business of Government
What are the lessons for successfully implementing management reforms?

Analytics/Evaluation
Congress looks to make grant info DATA Act friendly
Chase Gunter, Federal Computer Week
New legislation fills in financial reporting gaps in the the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act.
Trump Team’s Evidence-Based Policy Efforts Lauded by Nonprofit Partner
Charles Clark, Government Executive
OMB’s guidance on foreign aid cited as model for agency implementation.
Does Congress Need an Evidence Office?
Patrick Lester, Social Innovation Research Center
Does Congress need an office to help it sort through the ever-growing body of research and analysis so that it can make its decisions more evidence-based?
The Gold (and Silver) Standard for Data-Driven Governance
Stephen Goldsmith, Governing
The cities that achieved the top grades in a new certification program have important things in common.

Collaboration
Government-Focused Information Exchange Goes Live
Theo Douglas, Government Technology
A new information network is putting the collective wisdom of public sector IT agencies within reach of their colleagues and trying to solve some of the big problems that vex government.

Customer Service
Citizen satisfaction with government services on the rise
Jessie Bur, Federal Times
American citizens are generally satisfied with the services the government provides them, according to a recent American Customer Satisfaction Index report.

Innovation
Can DHS purchase innovation?
Derek Johnson, Federal Computer Week
At a reverse industry day, representatives from DHS and industry discussed what’s keeping government from innovating.