Federal agencies and academics have long discussed the importance of cross-agency collaboration.

Shelley Metzenbaum, Former Associate Director of Performance and Personnel Management, Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

Bruce T. Barkley, Sr. was a charter member of the federal Senior Executive Service (SES). He is now retired from the federalgovernment and teaches public administration and program management at the Keller Graduate School of Management in Atlanta, Georgia.

In our last post, we initiated conversations on the current federal analytics strategy and the important role analytics plays in helping department and agency leaders use better data to make informed decisions and improve operational performance, while reducing costs. Today, our focus is on the role technology in effort to better link data. Information Technology (IT) role to better link data

In our blogs last week, we discussed the vision of analytics in the future and the three key principles government agencies will need to apply to dramatically reduce costs and drive performance improvement.

The future’s going to be different. Just look at today’s generation. It participates in massively distributed, role-playing games on the Internet, like World of Warcraft. As a result, young people develop their leadership skills differently. They share information and make decisions differently. They engage in teamwork and collaborate differently. It’s all about your contributions, not your rank or position. They are called “digital natives.” This isn’t how government works today.

Public sector organizations face increasing pressure to ensure that programs are well managedand results-oriented, and meet the needs of their constituents—namely, the Americanpublic. Citizens expect and deserve quality services in return for their investment (i.e., taxdollars) whether they are receiving Social Security checks, undergoing medical treatmentat veterans’ hospitals, obtaining assistance in response to natural disasters, visiting nationalparks, or receiving any other government services at the federal, state, or local level.

 

Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Information Management andTechnology, and Deputy Chief Information OfficerU.S. Department of Defense