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: [email protected] 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: [email protected] Phone: 703-402-7382
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