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Reducing Administrative Burden in Federal Research Grants to Universities

Submitted by on Wed, 01/29/2020 - 11:33

The authors focus on the financial and programmatic compliance requirements of managing grants at universities, with the understanding that at a foundational level, the ethical conduct and integrity of conducting research is critical to the success of the U.S. federal government’s $40 billion annual research and development investment with universities. However, the emphasis on procedural accountability is increasingly undermining the ability of academic researchers to focus their attention on conducting the research itself.

Emulating Value Chains of Consumer Goods to Save Lives: A Case Study of ColaLife’s Work in Zambia

Submitted by on Fri, 11/15/2019 - 08:33

This becomes even more problematic in developing countries with populations residing in remote locales. Getting life-saving medicines to these areas is fraught with many challenges. In a general sense, it is challenging getting health commodities into many of these countries, but even more challenging is getting medicines to those in need who live in remote regions once these medicines are in-country.

Preparing the Next Generation of Federal Leaders: Agency-Based Leadership Development Programs

Submitted by on Thu, 10/10/2019 - 09:09

Successful leaders envision, shape, and safeguard the future, creating clarity amidst uncertainty. This objective is increasingly difficult in an era where rapid, unforeseen change seems constant. Agencies face serious public management challenges that go to the core of effective governance and leadership, requiring innovation, collaboration, flexibility, and understanding of the capacity needed to tackle complex, non-routine challenges.

Assessing the Past and Future of Public Administration: Reflections from the Minnowbrook at 50 Conference

Submitted by on Thu, 09/19/2019 - 06:40

Government leaders rely on expert analyses from academia to help them understand their impact on the citizens and nations they serve. Scholars advance the profession through their writings and dialogues. Students benefit by learning about the influences on and the outcomes of public sector action in a way that helps build a future workforce. Understanding how public administration has evolved in the past can help all stakeholders to address challenges and capitalize on opportunities that matter for all stakeholders in this diverse profession.

More Than Meets AI: Part II

Submitted by on Thu, 07/25/2019 - 08:00

AI can increase operational efficiency and effectiveness, free employees of repetitive tasks, uncover new data insights, and enhance service delivery to customers. While they take advantage of these benefits, federal agencies must also manage real and perceived risks associated with AI to build trust in these technologies.

Agile Problem Solving in Government: A Case Study of The Opportunity Project

Submitted by on Wed, 06/19/2019 - 09:00

Citizen expectations, changing technologies, a mass proliferation of data, and new business processes are among the key external forces that challenge agencies to serve constituents in new ways.

Financial Management for The Future: How Government Can Evolve to Meet the Demands of a Digital World

Submitted by on Wed, 06/05/2019 - 09:58

Initiatives directed and sponsored by Office of Management and Budget (OMB), General Services Administration (GSA), and the Treasury Department have provided the incentives and guidance necessary to build upon that progress. However, many agencies continue to face challenges meeting certain standards for accounting and reporting, and continue to use outdated financial systems that minimally support their financial performance and accountability. Moreover, some agencies still use legacy financial systems that feed their core Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system.

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.

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