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Responding to Global Health Crises: Lessons from the U.S. Response to the 2014-2016 West Africa Ebola Outbreak

Submitted by on Tue, 04/09/2019 - 09:15
Given the seriousness of the situation, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) deployed a Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART), as an interagency platform for coordinating operations to end the outbreak. In the event of a war, earthquake, hurricane, or other disaster outside the United States, OFDA can quickly mobilize such a team to assess humanitarian needs, assemble expertise from many parts of the U.S.

Integrating Big Data and Thick Data to Transform Public Services Delivery

Submitted by on Thu, 03/21/2019 - 08:30

Governments can greatly enhance the value of big data by combining it with “thick” data—rich qualitative information about users, such as their values, goals, and consumption behavior, obtained by observing or interacting with them in their daily lives. Big data holds great promise for improving public services delivery and innovation in government, but they are not a panacea . Having lots of data can be overwhelming or have little utility if the data are “thin”—that is, they lack meaning for users or fail to capture issues that matter most .

A Practitioner’s Framework for Measuring Results: Using “C-Stat” at the Colorado Department of Human Services

Submitted by on Tue, 03/05/2019 - 11:13

While this report is a framework for measuring performance in state agencies, it has relevance to performance measurement in other large public sector organizations as well. The author describes the evolution of C-Stat as a management framework for over a seven-year period, and offers concrete and actionable advice on the dynamics of using such an approach.

More Than Meets AI

Submitted by on Thu, 02/28/2019 - 06:00

Human beings have been interested in intelligent automation as far back as ancient times, when Greeks believed an automated man made of bronze circled Crete several times a day to protect Europa, the mother of the island’s King Minos, from pirates and invaders. This myth from more than 2,000 years ago perhaps prophesized the vision people have today of relinquishing routine tasks to machines, so people can take on assignments that require creative thinking and high-level reasoning.

Buying as One: Category Management Lessons From the United Kingdom

Submitted by on Wed, 02/20/2019 - 08:00

A purchasing strategy adopted by the private sector three decades ago, called category management, organizes the spending on common goods and services across the enterprise into defined categories, such as travel or commercial software, from the same or similar supplier base.

Improving the Delivery of Services and Care for Veterans

Submitted by on Mon, 11/12/2018 - 09:13

This report focuses on a fairly defined target population – veterans of military service and their families. Yet, as the report’s authors note, the diffuse approach in delivering benefits and services to these individuals is incredibly complicated.

Off to a Running State Capital Start: A Transition Guide for New Governors and Their Teams

Submitted by on Wed, 11/07/2018 - 11:54

This report provides three sets of lessons from Katherine Barrett and Richard Greene, a pair of veteran observers of state and local government management, to help gubernatorial teams move quickly and set the stage for a successful term in office:

Applying Design Thinking To Public Service Delivery

Submitted by on Wed, 10/24/2018 - 09:00

Serving the citizenry has always has been a foundation of our government and today, rapidly advancing technological innovations are fundamentally changing citizen expectations. The last best experience that anyone has becomes the minimum expectation for the next experience. With these changing dynamics as a backdrop, organizations must begin to re-imagine how they innovate, operate, and engage with clients, employees, and stakeholders.

The Impact of Blockchain for Government: Insights on Identity, Payments, and Supply Chain

Submitted by on Mon, 09/24/2018 - 12:00

On behalf of the IBM Center for The Business of Government, we are pleased to present this special report, The Impact of Blockchain for Government: Insights on Identity, Payments, and Supply Chain, by Thomas Hardjono with MIT Connection Science, in consultation with the Congressional Blockchain Caucus.

Data-Driven Government: The Role of Chief Data Officers

Submitted by on Tue, 09/18/2018 - 08:47

The push for data-driven government is currently of intense interest at the federal level as it develops an integrated federal data strategy as part of its goal to “leverage data as a strategic asset.” There is also pending legislation to require agencies to designate chief data officers (CDOs).

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