ASPA Center for Accountability & Performance

Analytics/Evaluation
Big Data, Big Cities, Big Deal
John Kamensky, Business of Government
Big Data is increasingly seen as a Big Deal, especially in mid-sized and big cities. But why? What can government leaders vs. data experts get from it?
Commerce Department spearheading project to ‘take data the last mile’
Meredith Somers, Federal News Radio
The Commerce Department  announced it would be spearheading the ongoing Opportunity Projects, an effort to use big data to solve issues like housing, hiring and healthcare.

Customer Service
Mobile Solutions Can Drive Citizen Engagement for Government
Lori Feller and Dan Chenok, Business of Government
Agencies can leverage mobile platforms to enhance citizen services.

Innovation
Pay for Success: Separating Fact From Fear
Justin Milner, Government Executive
In an era of tight budgets, finding innovative ways to fund social programs and improve the lives of Americans has become more important than ever. One strategy that has gained prominence in recent years is “pay for success.”
Pentagon advisory board rolls out innovation plan
Sean Carberry, Federal Computer Week
The Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Advisory Board said there is no shortage of ideas and innovation in the military, but what is lacking is the means to share and build on innovative ideas.
New innovative positions creating ‘cool kids club,’ officials worry
Sarah Ehlinger, FedScoop
Government needs to stop creating new positions as a blanket solution for its innovation problems, according to Washington, D.C. CTO Archana Vemulapalli.
Two Years Later: The Future of Government Digital Services
Darcie Piechowski, Business of Government
The second anniversary of the US Digital Service (USDS) provides the opportunity to consider the future of digital government.

Leadership
Can a New Work Design Help the Government?
Stewart Liff, Government Executive
What you can learn from the agencies that pioneered different approaches.

Performance Management
House Clears Bill to Strengthen Program Management
Charles Clark, Government Executive
All agencies would appoint new program improvement officers.

Analytics/Evaluation
How the ‘Data Cabinet’ Could Break Down Project Barriers
Mohana Ravindranath, Nextgov
Chief Data Scientist DJ Patil wants to connect government data professionals so they can help other agencies.
AI is coming
Steve Kelman, Federal Computer Week
The author looks at the potential — and potential risks — of letting algorithms drive government decision-making.

Customer Service
Building a Relational Public Sector
Jody Hoffer Gittell and Jacob Storch, Stanford Social Innovation Review
What the US can learn from Denmark, and vice versa.

Open Government
How Data is Radically Changing the Federal Government
Kevin Merritt, Government Executive
By making information accessible to the public, agencies are serving citizens more effectively.
Open data’s journey through an administration
Samantha Ehlinger, Fedscoop
Open data experts reflect on the progress made so far in giving the public more government data.
What Obama Did for Tech: Transparency and Open Data
Jason Shueh, Government Technology
Data.gov went live in 2009 and was the first platform to deliver federal data to citizens, civic hackers, academics and anyone else seeking insights from government information.

Analytics/Evaluation
Treasury ‘on track’ to hit Data Act milestones
Chase Gunter, Federal Computer Week
Despite concerns, Treasury Department officials said they are on schedule to publish agency spending data by the May 2017 deadline.

Collaboration
Leading a Network Doesn’t Have To Be Like Herding Cats
Michael Keegan, Government Executive
Research offers a guide to effective collaboration.
Why Data Sharing Should Be Government’s Default
Stephen Goldsmith, Governing
It enables more efficient and effective government. The obstacles are often more rooted in folklore than in law.

Customer Service
How May I Help You?
John Kamensky, Business of Government
Improving customer service has been an off-and-on federal priority over a number of years.

Innovation
How Sugar Beets Symbolize Innovation in Government
Katherine Barrett and Richard Greene, Governing
Insights into the things that can facilitate and hinder innovation.

Performance Management
The Management Roadmap: How the Next Administration Can Hit the Ground Running from Day One
Dan Chenok, Business of Government
Focusing on management as a key enabler to achieving policy and program priorities.
4 steps to a solid management agenda for the next administration
Nicole Ogrysko, Federal News Radio
The Partnership for Public Service offered a four-pronged road map to develop an implementation plan on the next president’s agency and policy priorities.
The Real Solution to Government’s Performance Problems: Culture Change
Howard Risher, Governing
The latest management system isn’t going to get the job done. Ultimately, it’s about leadership and managers.

Collaboration
The Calculus for Commitment: The Power of Involving the Private Sector in Social Impact Networks
Anna Muoio and Faizal Karmali, Stanford Social Innovation Review
Why social sector organizations should make engaging for-profit companies a normal part of their problem-solving strategies—and four ways to do it effectively.
Army: Partnerships essential to meet future cyberthreats
Sean Carberry, Federal Computer Week
For the Army to meet the cyberthreats of the future, it must forge deeper partnerships with industry and academia today.

Customer Service
How the Next Administration Can Improve Customer Experience
Kathy Conrad and Eric Keller, Government Executive
Agencies are increasingly recognizing that services should be built from the outside in, around customer needs. The next administration will likely bring its own twist to these initiatives.
How agencies plan to improve customer service
Chase Gunter, Federal Computer Week
Federal agencies are increasingly looking to the private sector for tips on how to improve customer experience.

Performance Management
25 Years Later, What Happened to ‘Reinventing Government’?
John Buntin, Governing
The ambitious public management crusade of the 1990s has made a mark on governments everywhere. But it’s fallen short of some of its goals.

Analytics/Evaluation
How Academia Is Failing Government
Philip Joyce, Governing
Because the incentives for academic research are misaligned, it has little impact on the real world of public administration and policy.

Collaboration
Effective Leadership in Network Collaboration: Lessons Learned from Continuum of Care Homeless Programs
Michael Keegan, Business of Government
What does effective collaboration look like and does leadership matter? If leadership is important, what specific skills and qualities are valuable for leaders to possess and/or develop in order to lead successful collaborative efforts?

Customer Service
How Branding Can Transform Government Customer Service
Dannielle Blumenthal, Government Executive
Government agencies tend to suffer from an extreme form of myopia.

Open Government
Watchdog: The ‘Window’ Into Government Performance Is Pretty Cloudy
Eric Katz, Government Executive
GAO says the Performance.gov website doesn’t do a very good job of tracking whether agencies are meeting their goals.
The Responsibility of Government in Building Civic Engagement
Darcie Piechowski, Business of Government
Government organizations help improve the lives of citizens every day. Yet, in the best of circumstances, the betterment of society is the responsibility of everyone – public sector employees who work for the government and citizens who interact with it.

Presidential Transition
What presidential transition looks like from inside an agency
Jory Heckman, Federal News Radio
The upcoming presidential transition, once complete, will bring nearly 4,000 new political appointees into the federal workforce, but the new presidential administration will need the existing career civil service to get policy off the ground.

Risk Management
Faster Government: Rethinking the Risk Equation
William Eggers, Governing
In a time of rapid change, being ready to fail early and get past it is essential.