Developing Digital Strategies for Web-based Public Access to

Government Performance Data

Dennis D. McDonald, Ph.D.

Alexandria, Virginia, USAweb: http://www.ddmcd.com

email: ddmcd@yahoo.com phone: 703-402-7382

February 18, 2013

Discuss requirements for making government program performance data available online.

PURPOSE OF PRESENTATION

This slide deck is based on:● A presentation by OMB on the "Performance

Improvement" pages of Performance.gov at the Jan. 29 meeting of Government Performance Coalition in Washington DC.

● Ongoing research into transparency program planning & assessment.

● My draft white paper on web-based access to government program performance data.

● Personal experience in planning & managing data transformation & access projects.

BACKGROUND

HIGHLIGHTS

Key points from the white paper Developing Digital Strategies for Web-based Public Access to Government Performance Data:● How explicit are the website’s own goals?● Needed: well-defined use cases & user groups.● How should social media and collaboration

tools be used?● The PMO as a governance and management

model.● Is it sustainable?● (9 more points discussed in white paper)

How explicit are the reporting website’s own goals?● It's nice to have defined goals to track

performance against, but ...○ At least three sets of goals have to be considered:

■ The performance reporting program's own goals.■ Cross-agency goals.■ Within-agency goals.

○ There's more to performance reporting than just making files and charts available -- users need context!

○ Government programs vary in terms of:■ The maturity of their own performance reporting.■ Their need for -- and willingness to accept --

assistance in performance reporting.

Needed: well-defined use cases and user groups● Use cases define the "who, what, where, why,

how, and how much" for each program participant and deliverable.

● The design and measurement of business processes and systems for performance reporting benefits from documented "use cases."

● Use cases can vary in level of detail, technical sophistication, and methodological formalism.

● Any type of disciplined use case definition is better than none.

How should social media and collaboration tools be used?

● To support production:○ Among development teams, speed production by

reducing need for meetings and proliferation of email attachments

● To support consumption:○ Make it possible for users to gain access, share

information, and communicate with program representatives.

● Don't assume that new technologies can be managed "from the top down."○ This includes mobile technologies such as

smartphones and tablets.

The PMO as a governance and management model.

● In the world of project management, Project Management Organizations (PMOs) are organizations that oversee multiple projects.

● PMOs differ in terms of the control, influence, and responsibility they have over individual programs, projects, staff, & resources.

● Templates, tools, and techniques for PMO management can be adapted to support the management of program performance reporting.

Is it sustainable?

● Are sufficient resources available to support the level of service required by the performance reporting process?

● Is continued support by reporting programs assured?

● Are processes in place to support the inevitable changes in how performance reporting is managed?

● Is the role of the organization in promoting process and data standardization defined?

QUESTIONS

1. Can performance reporting succeed without explicit agreed upon goals?

2. Can high- and low-maintenance programs co-exist for the long term?

3. What to do about "email addicts"?4. Should cross-agency (as opposed to within-

agency) goal reporting be the primary focus?5. What about cost reporting?

FOR MORE INFORMATION

For more information, contact:

Dennis D. McDonald, Ph.D.

Alexandria, Virginia, USAWeb: www.ddmcd.com

Email: ddmcd@yahoo.com Phone: 703-402-7382

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