Agencies need the ability to manage their data seamlessly, whether it’s on premises or in the cloud, in order to take advantage of innovative opportunities. A solution known as an open source relationship database management system (RDBMS) can help.
There was a time when government paid little attention to how consumers interacted with it, and the Department of Veterans Affairs was no different. But today, the VA is at the forefront of changing that. The VA’s deputy chief veterans experience officer explains both her vision and the obstacles ahead.
VA.gov was recently recognized for its hard work improving user accessibility. Since veterans are more likely to have visible and invisible disabilities than other demographics, enhanced accessibility was an especially worthy goal. Here’s what the VA did — and how.
Unhappy government employees may struggle to happily provide government services. But using feedback from OPM’s annual Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS), agency leaders can better gauge their employees’ needs and concerns, and work to improve the organization accordingly. That can make a world of difference.
When Pittsburg failed to get certification from Bloomberg Philanthropies’ What Works Cities Certification Program, the city dusted itself off and worked hard to change its entire data mindset. Here’s how they did it.
Automation can make analyzing data so much easier. It can help agencies tell better “data stories” that put the information in context. Automating isn’t easy, though. Here’s advice from an industry expert.
PETs, otherwise known as privacy enabling technologies, help agencies enable, enhance and preserve the privacy of data throughout its lifecycle. They’ve come a long way over the last 30 years.
Data analytics, in simple terms, can be compared to doing a jigsaw puzzle: The automated analytic tools make much quicker sense of 1,000 random puzzle pieces than a human ever could. But the shift to data analytics requires some planning.
In the current data-driven landscape, business leaders across government need to be involved in using data. They need at least a working knowledge of the tools of data science and the ways data scientists generate their insights.
It isn’t only organizational efficiencies that make data literacy worthwhile. Fostering data acumen is tied to the core mission of government agencies: serving constituents.