Implementing Sustainability in Federal Agencies: An Early Assessment of President Obama’s Executive Order 13514

Submitted by on Mon, 08/15/2011 - 14:32

“As the largest consumer of energy in the U.S. economy, the federal government can and should lead by example when it comes to creating innovative ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase energy efficiency, conserve water, reduce waste, and use environmentally responsible products and technologies,” said President Obama. This EO is an attempt to make operational the concept of sustainability. By pushing the integration of environmental, energy, and transportation indicators, the EO combines into one strategy the core elements of sustainability.

Use of Dashboards in Government

Submitted by on Mon, 08/01/2011 - 10:11

Government leaders are deluged with thousands of streams of data about the performance of their agencies and programs.

One approach the Obama administration has latched onto to make sense out of the deluge of data is the use of on-line “dashboards” of performance data that track the key performance metrics of various federal agencies and programs.  The administration has touted the benefits of dashboards as a way of organizing and filtering performance data so it makes sense to decision makers so they can understand and act on it.

Best Places to Work in the Federal Government® Staff/Manager Alignment Scores

Submitted by on Tue, 06/28/2011 - 11:59

Managers play an important role in an organization; they implement policies from senior leadership and also carry concerns up the chain from staff to decision-makers. If managers and staff don’t see eye-to-eye on the key issues, then managers may be unable or unwilling to properly acknowledge and share staff concerns to leadership. Executives may be left unaware of what’s happening on the front lines, issuing policies that risk failure because they aren’t fully informed.

Breaking New Ground: Promoting Environmental and Energy Programs in Local Government

Submitted by on Mon, 06/20/2011 - 13:33

The survey asked questions regarding sustainability initiatives that have been undertaken by local governments. Over 2,000 local governments responded to the survey. The survey was developed by ICMA’s Center for Sustainable Communities, the Center for Urban Innovation at Arizona State University, the Arizona State University’s Global Institute of Sustainability, and the Alliance for Innovation.

Seven Management Imperatives

Submitted by on Sat, 06/04/2011 - 14:36

 

Periodically the IBM Center staff steps back and reflects on the insights provided by its authors of more than 300 research reports and by some 300 senior government executives interviewed over the past 13 years.  Through our research and interviews, we identified several broad societal trends that we believe are changing the game for successful leadership at all levels of government.

Spring/Summer 2011 Edition

Submitted by on Thu, 06/02/2011 - 16:14

IMPLEMENTATION BRIEF 3: Implementation of the Affordable Care Act of 2010

Submitted by on Tue, 05/31/2011 - 09:56

This implementation brief, Preparing for Health Insurance Exchanges: Benefits, Challenges, and Responsibilities for the Federal Government and the States, is the third in a series of reports exploring some of the most formidable and important challenges facing states and the federal government as they implement the Affordable Care Act. These exchanges, which will offer a wide choice of private health plans and sliding scale federal premium subsidies for millions of Americans, are scheduled to launch in 2014.

Using Wikis in Government: A Guide for Public Managers

Submitted by on Mon, 05/23/2011 - 01:53

Public leaders face the challenge of finding ways to bridge silos in their organizations. In this report, Dr. Mergel examines one tool that can help them do this—Wikis. Many of us are familiar with Wikipedia, which relies on thousands of active contributors who share their knowledge freely on a dazzling breadth of topics, with an accuracy rate rivaling that of traditional encyclopedias.

Using Online Tools to Engage – and be Engaged by –The Public

Submitted by on Mon, 05/16/2011 - 10:56

Mr. Leighninger’s report begins to pull back the veil on how the various online engagement tactics and tools can be used, and when they work best.  

His report describes common scenarios where public managers may find themselves needing, or using, public input.  He describe a mix of ten different tactics managers may find useful for engaging the public online and highlights over 40 different technologies in use today to support those kinds of engagements.

GPRA Modernization Act of 2010 Explained

Submitted by on Tue, 05/03/2011 - 09:48

This update effort started several years ago through the efforts of Congressman Henry Cuellar (D-TX) then evolved more recently with support from Senators Tom Carper (D-DE) and Mark Warner (D-VA).

The update is based on more than 15 years of experience – documented through numerous GAO reports that culminated in a 2004 overarching assessment.  This experience included both the evolution of agency practices as well as increased access to information and collaboration via the Internet.

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