Vice Admiral Jack Dorsett: Strengthening the U.S. Navy’s Information Dominance for the 21st Century

In an increasingly interconnected and networked world, information possesses such significant power that it can no longer be viewed simply as an enabler to meeting one’s mission. Whether in business or defending the nation, information can act as a serious differentiator for those who leverage it and use it to their competitive advantage. The U.S.

Beyond the operating room: Applying military healthcare data insights to the civilian sector

Major Jim Markham is an operations research / systems analyst in the Army.  He is currently serving as a Research Fellow in the Training with Industry program, during which he works with IBM for one year before returning to the Army, including time with the Center for The Business of Government. His fellowship is intended to help him learn how industry applies big data and analytics to healthcare challenges in order to take this knowledge back to the Army.

 

Background:

New Research Report Recipients

We are pleased to announce our latest round of awards for new reports on key public sector challenges, which respond to priorities identified in the Center's research agenda. Our content is intended to stimulate and accelerate the production of practical research that benefits public sector leaders and managers.

We expect the following reports to be published later in 2017.  Short summaries of each report follow:

 

Analytics and Risk Management: Tools for Making Better Decisions

Decisions based on bad information can lead to poor results and be quite costly to organizations. This may culminate in the squandering of opportunities, taking on unnecessary risk, misallocating resources, and ultimately not achieving strategic goals or objectives. At a time of shrinking budgets and increasing expectations to do more with less, making better decisions based on informed judgment has taken on even more significance for both private sector and government organizations.

Open Data Can Make a Difference!

Selecting a college can be one of the most expensive choices in life.  But until recently, the information sources to make an informed decision were scattered and of varying quality – rankings in national magazines, word of mouth, brochures from campuses, and the perennial college tours. 

Weekly Roundup: March 27 – April 7, 2017

John Kamensky

Warner Letter re: DATA Act. Federal News Radio reports: “Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) sent letters to 24 chief financial officer agencies on Friday, urging leadership to “prioritize efforts” to comply with the Digital Accountability and Transparency (DATA) Act. . . . Warner, an original backer of the DATA Act, asked five questions to agency leaders about their progress toward the May 2017 implementation deadline.”

Weekly Roundup: May 29 – June 2, 2017

John Kamensky

Risk & Reform. In an op-ed for Government Executive, Linda Miller writes: “Making decisions about which programs to eliminate or how to restructure the organizational functions of an agency is a challenge. It’s even more difficult when an agency lacks adequate information on either performance or risk or a mechanism with which to analyze it.”

Ten Success Factors in Implementing Large Initiatives

However, last month the federal government managed a quiet, yet successful, implementation of a key element of the DATA Act. A website of financial data from across the government went
“live,” and nothing bad happened! What lessons were learned that could be applied to other large-scale, government-wide initiatives in the future? A panel sponsored by the National Academy of Public Administration recently explored this question.

Weekly Roundup: June 26-30, 2017

John Kamensky

Restored Faith.  FedScoop reports on comments by Cong. Gerry Connelly at a conference, noting: “With agencies now required to report their spending data in compliance with the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act, it’s a chance for the federal government to earn some trust from the American people.”

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