In the coming years, government executives will need to utilize real-time information for decision-making and accountability. Specifically, they must (1) Collect better data; (2) Conduct better analysis; (3) Make better decisions; and (4) Take smarter action.
In 2012, President Obama’s digital government plan ordered federal agencies to create at least two mobile apps. A lot has happened since then, and at all levels of government.
The fiscal year 2016 consolidated appropriations bill was signed in mid-December, averting a potential government shutdown, but the bill was over two thousand pages long, with even more details in the accompanying committee reports. The amount of detail is amazing, including a provision authorizing breastfeeding of babies in federal buildings (p. 582), but there are also five provisions that have potential long-term effects on government performance and management.
Improving Performance Management. Liam Ackland’s op-ed in Federal Computer Week identifies six steps that agency chief human capital officers could take in 2016 to address three major challenges: the retirement tsunami, the skills gap, and improving employee engagement. https://fcw.com/Articles/2016/01/15/oped-performance-management.aspx?Page=1
An Empty Driver’s Seat. Federal News Radiointerviews Danny Werfel former federal exec, and former acting IRS commissioner: “Call it the eighth year syndrome. It's the last year of a presidency and scores of politically appointed slots throughout the federal government are vacant, and likely to stay that way until the next administration comes in.” Werfel gives advice on how career execs can manage through this period.
This week, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) released a new report with support from the IBM Center for The Business of Government. The report, “New Tools for Collaboration: The Experience of the U.S. Intelligence Community,” is authored by Gregory Treverton, who conducted the study as an independent research effort prior to his returning to government service as Director of the National Intelligence Council. Treverton draws upon but reshapes the results of a RAND project done for the Center for the Study of Intelligence.
