Effective governance is increasingly dependent on the use of cross-agency collaborative networks. Do you know if you are any good at running a collaborative network? The non-profit Policy Consensus Initiative, in collaboration (how fitting!) with the 26-member University Network for Collaborative Governance, have developed a “Guide to Collaborative Competencies.” The guide draws “upon the collectiveRead… Read more »
How can organizations reach beyond their traditional smokestacks and silos? Coordination mechanisms have existed for years, notes Naval Postgraduate School author Nancy Roberts, but they haven’t been used. But the availability of new web-based tools and the pressures from cost cuts, the war on terror, and emergency management may have created a new environment forRead… Read more »
States and localities were the front line for implementation of more than $275 billion in spending via more than 65 programs. They also faced pressures to spend, spend quickly, spend wisely – and report what they did in almost real-time. A new IBM Center report examines what happened in several cities in Virginia. In 2009,Read… Read more »
As organizations become more complicated, success can often be tied to the degree to which an organization is responsive to customers. This generally happens on the front line. So empowering front line managers to solve problems without going up through the chain of command is an important leadership strategy. The September 2011 issue of theRead… Read more »
The Bush Administration had its Results.Gov scorecard. The Obama Administration now has unveiled its Performance.Gov dashboard. Is a dashboard better than a scorecard? The Bush website provided links to key management initiatives, such as the President’s Management Agenda Scorecard, a list and bios of top political appointees, and a set of agency examples of bestRead… Read more »
In recent weeks, the main stream media has questioned whether the Obama administration’s Open Government initiative has lost its steam. But is it really dead? For example, Washington Post columnist Vivek Wadhwa’s article “The Death of Open Government” followed the resignation announcement of the federal government’s chief information officer – and Open Government champion —Read… Read more »
How do you tell the different between when government programs overlap and duplicate each other versus when they complement and reinforce each other in a collaborative network? Is this just a difference in rhetoric or in reality? This is the underlying theme of a new report by Congressional Research Service specialist Fredrick Kaiser, in “InteragencyRead… Read more »
The use of dashboards in the federal government took off when President Obama released his Open Government initiative in early 2009. Here’s a snapshot of where they are today, and some lessons learned from the pioneers. Vivek Kundra is leaving the federal government after having served as its first chief information officer. Probably one ofRead… Read more »
The deficit showdown reflects a challenge of modern times: how can government – and society – deal with increased complexity? A new book may point the way. Noted government observer Donald Kettl, wrote several years ago that the government of the future needs to develop three things to deal with increased complexity: knowledge-driven organizations, theRead… Read more »
Two of the stumbling blocks to expanding the use of collaborative networks in government are: how do you figure out what works? And, how do you create accountability? The IBM Center has sponsored a series of reports in different policy arenas over the past decade that look at the creation and use of collaborative networksRead… Read more »