ASPA Center for Accountability & Performance

Performance Management
OMB’s Biggest Challenge
Howard Risher, Government Executive
Government does not have the systems in place today to identify the best performers or rationalize staffing.

Analytics/Evaluation
DATA Act advocates reflect on three years of planning, partnerships, predictions for future spending reports
Meredith Somers, Federal News Radio
Open government advocates, industry, and agency officials are eagerly looking toward the May 9 implementation date for standardized federal spending information.
Agencies looking beyond Data Act deadline
Chase Gunter, Federal Computer Week
The DATA Act’s first submission deadline is a few days away, but agencies are already counting the benefits and looking to future uses.
7 problems (and solutions) ahead of next week’s DATA Act deadline
Carten Cordell, Federal Times
The long-awaited rollout of the DATA Act reporting requirements are set to debut on May 9, but a new report says challenges remain for agencies looking to capitalize on the law’s Big Data possibilities.
Trump tech aide touts DATA Act as ‘model’ for innovation
Chase Gunter, Federal Computer Week
A few agencies will miss the May deadline to electronically submit their financial data, but robust support of spending data transparency from the White House, Congress and the private sector will keep the pressure on lagging agencies.
How analytics can transform federal real estate budget planning
Rana Lahiri and Ed Cody, Federal Computer Week
By combining financial and asset management data, agencies can build a systems for better decision making.
Social Progress’s True Metric: Compared to What?
William Corrin and John Martinez, Stanford Social Innovation Review
With a proper approach and clear benchmarks, program evaluation can yield unexpected insights and become a delightful learning experience.

Innovation
Arizona Management Systems Principles Improve State Processes, Save Millions
Theo Douglas, Government Technology
Focusing on customer value and continuous improvement, and engaging employees to improve productivity, quality and service has helped Arizona save millions of dollars so far.

Open Government
OMB gets avalanche of government improvement suggestions
Mark Rockwell, Federal Computer Week
The White House call for suggestions from federal employees and the public has brought in over 60,000 submissions.

Reorganization
GAO List of Duplicative Programs to Piggyback on Trump Efficiency Effort
Charles Clark, Government Executive
Congress’ watchdog released its seventh annual inventory of duplicative or fragmented programs with a nod toward the reorganization effort announced by the Trump White House.
Trump’s Separate Pursuit of Two Government Reform Plans Will Hurt Both
Stan Soloway, Government Executive
A more connected and aligned strategy is more likely to drive sustainable, effective results.
Scratch-built government: A ‘how-to’ blueprint
Ron Sanders, Federal Times
As OMB and the agencies consider their next steps here are some lessons learned from previous major government transformations over the last couple of decades they can consider.
Reorganization fever
David Wennergren, Federal Computer Week
It’s worth reviewing what works and doesn’t, so that agencies can avoid the pitfalls of the past and aim to succeed.
Trump Administration Will Ask Career Feds How to Do Things Better — or Not at All
Eric Katz, Government Executive
According to one of the architects of the plan, career federal employees will play an outsized role in crafting the Trump administration’s effort to reshape government.

Performance Management
The Scoreboards That Government’s Front-Line Workers Need
John Bernard, Governing
To improve processes, it’s crucial for everyone to be able to see how they’re doing in real time.

Analytics/Evaluation
DATA Act deadline is looming, but don’t expect ‘perfection,’ officials say
Samantha Ehlinger, Fedscoop
The first deadline for the DATA Act, which requires all agencies to report spending in a standardized way, is on May 9. But that marker, officials say, is only the beginning.
With New Research ‘Lab,’ D.C. Aims Big for Better Public Policy
J.B. Wogan, Governing
Lots of cities use social science data to help make decisions. But the District of Columbia is going a lot further.

Collaboration
Creating an Executive Corps for All of Government
Beth Cobert, Government Executive
Federal executives are faced with daunting challenges in increasingly complex and fast-moving times.
More often than not they require a multiagency response.

Open Government
How Government’s Data Can Be Truly Useable
Stephen Goldsmith, Governing
Visualization is what residents need to be able to drive action on issues.

Performance Management
The Path to Better Management of Government’s Huge Programs
Alan Balutis, Dan Chenok, Greg Giddens, Stan Soloway and Jim Williams, Government Executive
With the enactment of the Program Management Improvement and Accountability Act, the federal government has the opportunity and mandate to address two long-standing challenges: delivering successfully on large-scale change initiatives and addressing the dearth of well-qualified program managers.
Trump’s Big League Management Agenda
Donald Kettl, Government Executive
Using mission to drive strategy makes eminent sense, but there are many ways to game the strategy.
Cincinnati Retrospective on Data-Driven Efforts Shares Methodologies, Successes
Eyragon Eidam, Government Technology
After diving headlong into the world of performance-driven local government, Cincinnati officials have released a retrospective on their experiences for other jurisdictions to draw on and learn from.

Reorganization
Trump Team Plans to Rebuild Government ‘Starting from Scratch’
Charles Clark, Government Executive
Where the Clinton administration tried to “reinvent government,” the Trump administration plans to rebuild government “starting from scratch.”
White House ends hiring freeze, mandates workforce, mission restructuring
Jason Miller, Federal News Radio
A memo issued by OMB Director Mick Mulvaney outlines a series of actions agencies need to take around reducing the number of employees, improving how they measure employee performance and restructure their mission areas.
The Potential Pitfalls of Trump’s Plan for Agencies to Transform Themselves
Eric Katz, Government Executive
Agencies can implement some changes on their own, but even those efforts could prove difficult.
The decluttering of the federal bureaucracy starts now
Jason Miller, Federal News Radio
An interview with Linda Springer, a senior adviser at the Office of Management and Budget.
To earn feds’ support on gov’t restructuring, OMB may need a different message
Nicole Ogrysko, Federal News Radio
Federal management experts say the White House could improve the message it’s sending to federal employees of its plan to overhaul and restructure the federal government.
Lawmakers have a unique role to play in government reorganization
Meredith Somers, Federal News Radio
The Trump administration’s government reorganization directly impacts federal agencies, but Congress will have its work cut out as lawmakers balance their own jurisdictional priorities with policy and personnel changes.

Customer Service
What Government Can Learn from Business about Customer Experience
Kathy Conrad and Eric Keller, Government Executive
There are many areas in which federal leaders can learn from the business community about how to provide a better customer experience.

Leadership
Without Reforms, SES May Not Be Ready for 21st Century Government
Ronald Sanders and Terry Gerton, Government Executive
Government’s executive corps faces critical demographic and structural challenges.

Performance Management
How Stat Got Stuck — in the Place That Made It Famous
J.B. Wogan, Governing
Using data to measure government performance has caught on in much of the country. But the tactic is in trouble in Maryland.
Government Performance Management Systems: Case Studies From South Asia
Prajapati Trivedi, Business of Government
An effective performance management system must be able to create the missing bottom line in a government organization. To be able to do this, a performance measurement system must, prioritize the criteria, success indicators and targets, and indicate how deviation from targets will be judged.

Analytics/Evaluation
How Good Is Your Evidence?
Bernadette Wright and Steven E. Wallis, Stanford Social Innovation Review
A new, and easier, scientific approach to determining the quality of evidence can help the social sector better assess—and therefore better address—social problems.
Sen. Warner urges new agency leadership to ‘prioritize’ DATA Act implementation
Meredith Somers, Federal News Radio
One of the original backers of the spending data standardization law, Warner wants to ensure agencies are still complying.

Innovation
President Trump’s Office of American Innovation – A big deal or not?
Jeff Neal, Federal News Radio
While the government can not operate like a business, but it can learn from the way businesses operate, especially when it comes to innovation.

Open Government
Why You Should Care About Open Data
John Kamensky, Government Executive
The transparency movement is directly benefitting people and the economy.
Citizen engagement: a pathway for government reform
Dan Chenok, Federal Computer Week
New technologies are bringing citizens into the halls of government, and redefining how citizens collaborate in the future.
Sustaining citizen engagement
Troy Schneider, Federal Computer Week
The tools for figuring out what end users want are better than ever, but acting on those insights is still a challenge.

Reorganization
The Many Practical Hurdles to Transforming Government
Howard Risher, Government Executive
No reorganization can succeed if employees aren’t onboard.

Analytics/Evaluation
Agencies Need to Get Savvy About Low-Cost Program Evaluation
Andrew Feldman and Benjamin Castleman, Government Executive
It’s more important than ever to get the most impact from every program dollar.
Driving Innovation Beyond the Big City: A Model for Small and Midsized Cities to Achieve Data Excellence
Mark Headd, Government Technology
While large cities have long embraced open data, smaller cities are just beginning to implement such policies, largely in partnership with the What Works Cities initiative.

Innovation
Trump taps Kushner to lead a SWAT team to fix government with business ideas
Ashley Parker and Philip Rucker, Washington Post
The White House Office of American Innovation will have sweeping authority to overhaul the federal bureaucracy and address key issues, such as reforming care for veterans and fighting opioid addiction.
Trump Pledges New Office to Bring Business Innovation to Government Operations
Eric Katz, Government Executive
The Trump administration is launching a new office to spur innovation in government operations with several elements that mirror previous presidential efforts.
Analysis: Reforming Government First Requires Understanding It
Elaine Kamarck, Government Executive
Consulting business executives can be very useful, but a real government-reform effort must be led by people with in-depth knowledge of the government itself.
Trump Gets Credit for Tackling Federal Management Issues
Charles Clark, Government Executive
Observers applaud new innovation office’s focus on technology.
Hope tempered by experience on White House innovation plan
Adam Mazmanian, Federal Computer Week
Seasoned government managers are hopeful about an innovation effort backed by the president, but they see pitfalls and the possibility of duplication.

Reorganization
The Road to Government Reform Is Filled With Landmines
Max Stier, Government Executive
Our institutions were created for a different era, but the moment is ripe for change.