Frank B. Strickland

Frank B. Strickland is a Senior Fellow Emeritus with the IBM Center for The Business of Government.

New Report: Federal Ideation Programs: Challenges and Best Practices

The IBM Center for The Business of Government, is pleased to present a new report, Federal Ideation Programs: Challenges and Best Practices, by Professor Gwanhoo Lee, of the Kogod School of Business at American University.

Next Steps in Moneyball Government

In mid-November, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released an assessment of how well agencies use performance information in decision making, with a particular focus on program evaluations.  Around the same time, a study on evidence-based policymaking in the states was released by the Pew Charitable Trusts and the MacArthur Foundation; and a new book, Moneyball for Government, by Peter Orzag and Jim Nussle, was announced by the non-profit Results for America.  Finally, a bill was introduced in the House by Congressman Paul Ryan (R), with the support of Senator Patty Murra

How Will Government Adapt?: Finding and Funding What Works

This is the third blog post in a series that sums up highlights of sessions held as part of the annual meeting in mid-November of the National Academy of Pubic Administration. The moderator for this session was Jon Baron, President, Coalition for Evidence-Based Policy. Panelists Grover J. “Russ”Whitehurst, Director, Brown Center on Education Policy, Brookings Institution; Former Director, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education Naomi Goldstein, Director, Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S.

Tiered Evidence Grants - An Assessment of the Education Innovation and Research Program

Early-stage innovations receive smaller grants; mid-level programs with promising evidence receive larger grants; and initiatives with substantial evidence of success in multiple settings are expanded nationally and receive the largest grants.

Federal Ideation Programs: Challenges and Best Practices

Ideation platforms are modern tools predicated on an old adage, “None of us is as smart as all of us.” Though that proverb has been widely accepted, collecting and synthesizing the knowledge of “all of us” into actionable next steps has been a daunting task. The rewards for doing so, however, are potentially very high, especially for large organizations in both the private and public sector.

Empirically Based Intelligence Management: Using Operations Research to Improve Programmatic Decision Making

On May 14, 2012, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) provided a memorandum to all departments and agencies on the need to use evidence throughout the Fiscal Year 2014 budget submission. The memorandum provides four pages of issues and approaches for using evidence in the development, evaluation, and management of government programs. OMB also encourages agencies to strengthen program evaluation through a dedicated senior leader, such as a chief evaluation officer reporting directly to the secretary or deputy secretary.