Using Administrative Data for Statistical Purposes

OMB has now issued guidance to that effect, encouraging agencies to use existing program administrative data in new ways.

The Obama Administration has championed “open data” by encouraging agencies to make a wider range of agency statistical information available to the public.  Its philosophy is “information is a valuable national resource and strategic asset.” To that end, it has iss

Cross-Agency Priority Goals: 2014 (Part 1)

The following are edited excerpts from Performance.gov.

Cross-Agency Priority goals address the longstanding challenge of tackling horizontal problems across vertical organizational silos. 15 Cross-Agency Priority Goals were announced in the 2015 Budget, these include 7 Mission-oriented and 8 Management-focused goals with a four-year time horizon.

Cross-Agency Priority Goals: 2014 (Part 2)

The following are edited excerpts from Performance.gov.

An earlier post provides excerpts from the seven mission-related cross-agency priority goals.  This post provides excerpts from the management-related cross-agency priority goals:

(UPDATED: 7-1-2014)

Performance Budgeting: Lessons from the States

New research findings by a team led Dr. Daniel Mullins at American University examine recent state-level trends in the use of performance budgeting or “budgeting for results” approaches. This research, presented at the annual conference of the American Society for Public Administration, offers some insights for any future federal performance budgeting initiative.

Weekly Round-up: April 4, 2014

John Kamensky

Mapping the Government

The National Geographic periodically publishes updated maps of the contours of the U.S. but there is no institution that takes on a similar task, updating the contours of the ever-changing federal government.   However the Administrative Conference has recently updated a long-forgotten “map” last prepared by the Congressional Research Service in 1980.  The authors are David Lewis and Jennifer Selin, of Vanderbilt University.

Agencies Set New Priority Goals

The 2010 revision of the Government Performance and Results Act requires federal agencies to identify a limited number of two-year Agency Priority Goals.  These action-oriented goals appear in their recently-released fiscal year 2015 budget proposals and are aligned with their newly released strategic goals and objectives.

The Secret Sauce of Effective Progress Reviews

So, how do you make PerformancStat meetings effective?  OMB says that these review meetings should be constructive and focus on learning.  Astute observers, such as Harry Hatry at the Urban Institute, say that leaders of these meetings need to be “hands on” and actively engaged in order to convey the

Leadership in Action - The Business of Government Magazine Spring 2014

In meeting varied missions, government executives confront significant challenges. Responding properly to them must be guided and informed by the harsh fiscal and budgetary realities of the day. It can no longer be simply a wishful platitude that government do more with less. Leaders need to change the way government does business to make smarter use of increasingly limited resources—leveraging technology and innovation to be more efficient, effective, anticipatory, adaptive, and evidence-based in delivering missions and securing the public trust.

Power Tools of Government

What are the major levers for driving changes in government agencies? Traditional tools are statutory changes, budgetary controls, and executive orders. But one that seasoned government executives will use to drive change is control over delegations of authority.

Pages