ASPA Center for Accountability & Performance

Performance Management
Does Performance Matter?
John Kamensky, Business of Government
Performance measurement is about measuring the performance of government and its programs – but what about measuring the effectiveness of performance measures themselves? Ironically, it turns out that it is harder than you might think.

Analytics/Evlauation
The long war for data standards
Zach Noble, Federal Computer Week
Getting the right underpinning governance isn’t glamorous, but proponents say hashing out details will help unleash data’s true potential.

Collaboration
New technologies for knowledge sharing
Steve Kelman, Federal Computer Week
The potential, and limitations, of the “social intranet.”

Customer Service
OMB Creates Inter-Agency Customer Service Council
Charles Clark, Government Executive
OMB director Shaun Donovan announced the establishment of a council to coordinate agency customer service and continue progress toward cross-agency priority goals.

Innovation
FEMA, HHS turn to ‘social listening’ for better disaster response
Nicole Ogrysko, Federal News Radio
Emergency management agencies say existing social media channels are often their best way to crowdsource and collect important information during a major weather event or natural disaster. Agencies such as FEMA and the Health and Human Services Department are adapting their strategy to embrace the “social listening” concept.

Analytics/Evaluation
Government’s Data-Driven Frenemies
Katherine Barrett and Richard Greene, Governing
There’s a long-standing rivalry between the people who do performance measurement and the people who evaluate programs.
Insights from the City of New Orleans’ analytics unit, NOLAlytics, about using data to improve city services
Andy Feldman, Gov Innovator Blog
The City of New Orleans under Mayor Mitch Landrieu has gained a reputation as being one of the most innovative and data-driven city governments. An important element in those efforts is the Office of Performance and Accountability, launched in 2011.

Collaboration
The “De-Siloization” of Knowledge in Government
John Kamensky, Business of Government
Most of an organization’s collective wisdom is locked in people’s heads, and not written down for others to search for and use. So, how do you increase the ability of people to know the expertise of their professional colleagues and share it with each other within a large organization?

Innovation
A New Twist on ‘Pay for Success’ Programs
Liz Farmer, Governing
A variation on the existing model would provide a money back guarantee should a project fail.

Presidential Transition
Obama Signs Bipartisan Bill to Smooth Presidential Transition
Charles Clark, Government Executive
New law clarifies GSA role and creates interagency council by this summer.

Performance Management
Results-Driven Contracting: An Overview
Harvard Government Performance Lab
Results-driven contracting in government is a continuum of practices that incorporates specific goals, measurement, active management using performance data, and the strategic use of performance incentives.

Analytics/Evaluation
Translating Research into Action
Brandee McHale and Tim Ogden, Stanford Social Innovation Review
There is no doubt that social change efforts are accelerated by data, but investing in high-quality, cutting-edge research alone isn’t enough to produce solutions. Funders and researchers have to invest more in translating research into action.

Collaboration
Next White House Should Create an Enterprise Government
Dan Chenok and Alan Howze, Business of Government
Regardless of the specific policies, implementation in many cases will require working across agency boundaries. Addressing cross-agency priorities with a common approach can enable success.
Agency Collaboration Could Make or Break Next Presidential Administration
Charles Clark, Government Executive
Report urges transition teams to get the government to operate as a single entity.

Customer Service
If Improving Government Services Is Such a Good Idea, Why Aren’t Elected Officials Doing It?
Donald Kettl, Government Executive
Three big reasons why the focus on delivery makes sense for elected officials.

Innovation
Obama Looks to Outsiders to Fix “Big and Bloated” Government
Tom Shoop, Government Executive
The president is making the case that outsiders – specifically, tech-savvy citizens – must step in and show federal agencies the way to a digital future.

Performance Management
Solidifying the Foundation for Performance Management
John Kamensky, Business of Government
The next president will have an opportunity to build on the real progress agencies have made in performance management.

Analytics/Evaluation
White House Taps Techies to Apply Federal Data to Beating Poverty
Charles Clark, Government Executive
Private software developers attend first demo of Opportunity Project.

Innovation
Encouraging and Sustaining Innovation in Government for the New Administration (Part II)
Dan Chenok and Alan Howze, Business of Government
Key ideas, findings and recommendations for sustaining innovation in the new administration.
OMB: All agency acquisitions get innovation labs by May 2
Carten Cordell, Federal Times
OMB released guidance requiring the acquisition departments of all federal agencies to develop innovation labs by May.
Agencies beginning to seed roots of digital service culture change
Nicole Ogrysko, Federal News Radio
More than a year after agencies began to embed digital services teams into their organizations, some are challenging often outdated and misinterpreted federal policies to develop new customer-focused products and tools.

Open Government
6 Ideas to Help Government Realize Open Data’s Transformative Power
Jessica Mulholland, Government Technology
Government thinks open data is an add-on that boosts transparency, but it’s more than that.

Presidential Transition
Brace Yourself for the Transition Management Jumble
David Chu, Government Executive
The ranks of the departing team can thin rapidly as January 20th approaches.

Analytics/Evaluation
Obama’s Final Budget Holds Some Surprising Hidden Pearls
Shelley Metzenbaum, Government Executive
Data on issues as varied as crime, disposable income, and heavy drinking offer valuable insight into what’s working and what isn’t in government.
Do Universities, Research Institutions Hold the Key to Open Data’s Next Chapter?
Ben Miller, Government Technology
Where government has raw data, professors and researchers have expertise and analytics programs.

Customer Service
Seven Steps to Becoming a CX Leader in Government
Martha Dorris, Government Executive
Improving customer experience could greatly benefit both employees and taxpayers.

Innovation
The Digital de Tocqueville
John Kamensky, Government Executive
Governing in the future is going to depend upon treating the public and the civil service as skilled partners in problem solving.
Encouraging and Sustaining Innovation in Government for the New Administration
Dan Chenok and Alan Howze, Business of Government
Government has made great strides in creating pathways for innovation over the last several years. The next Administration faces the challenge of how to leverage the continuously accelerating pace of change to make the government more effective.
‘Pay for Success’: An Idea With Bipartisan Appeal
Charles Chieppo, Governing
Two new initiatives show the increasing sophistication of an approach that pays social-services providers only for programs that work.
When agile development is change management in disguise
Mark Rockwell, Federal Computer Week
When it comes to digital services, the tech is often secondary at best.

Risk Management
OMB Prepares to Ratchet Up Enterprise Risk Management
Charles Clark, Government Executive
Expected in April, the new version of OMB’s Circular A-123 will likely impose new requirements that agencies formalize the discipline known as enterprise risk management.