Michael J. Keegan

The "data" movement has many names. In Robert Behn's new book, The Performance Stat Potential, "PerformanceStat" refers to the many "Stat" programs initiated after the New York City Police Department successfully launched CompStat in the 1990s.Others use the term "analytics" to capture the use of data. While the trend toward increased use of data to measure performance has received much attention, the training that civil servants need to use data effectively has received less attention.

U.S. CIO Tony Scott: OMB's draft FITARA guidance aims to advance IT reform. OMB released the much-anticipated guidance to reform how agencies buy and manage information technology for public comments. The comment period will remain open until May 30, but federal CIO Tony Scott, in an exclusive Federal News Radio interview, said OMB wants to move on the comments and refinements with a sense of urgency. DHS' Unity of Effort seeds the roots of change. The joint requirements council is one of the best examples of just how much the Homeland Security Department has changed over the last year.

Rewiring the Pentagon: Carter's new cyber strategy. After two months on the job studying the Defense Department's cybersecurity and defense IT needs, Secretary Ashton Carter will on April 23 unveil a new DOD cyber strategy that emphasizes developing the personnel and technologies necessary to stay abreast of an ever-evolving threat. Government’s Mobile Sites, Apps Rated More Highly Than Many Companies’. More and more, Americans are turning to their smartphones to check their bank balance, look up a restaurant listing -- or even access a government service.

The U.S. was projected to spend $3.1 trillion dollars on healthcare generating billions of claims from healthcare service and product providers every year. Medicare alone accounts for something on the order of $635 billion in annual spending.

OMB Deputy Director Beth Cobert discusses importance of #SES #leadership to government performance @ombpress. http://www.govexec.com/management/2015/05/obama-management-chief-senior-execs-must-set-tone-better-performance/112834/?oref=river Cybersecurity matters for achievement of agency missions, says @usNISTgov expert Ron Ross.http://www.federalnewsradio.com/241/3857152/Cybersecurity-mission-areas-must-integrate-to-stave-off-flood-of-attacks More #procurement #transparency from @usGSA -- supports broader category management initiative.

Best Apps in Government. NextGov reports: ”At trade group ACT-IAC’s second annual Mobility Application Fair, agencies such as the Federal Communications Commission and the Small Business Administration competed for titles including ‘Most Innovative App.’” And the winners are . . . {see link} DOD: Not Ready for Sequestration? Federal News Radio reports that the Government Accountability Office has issued a new report warning the Defense Department that it hasn’t adequately summed up lessons learned from the 2013 sequester, in order to be prepared if it were to happen again.

Deconstructing Chief Data Officers. Federal News Radio is running a series of articles around the new role of agency chief data officers – who they are, what they do, and where do they fit with agency Chief Information and Chief Technology Officers? Part 1: Finding a balance in the pantheon of “chiefs” Part 2: An interview with DJ Patil, the White House’s first “chief data scientist.” More installments to come! 18F Pushes Plain Language.

A clear strategic focus and sound management are essential to the effective stewardship of taxpayer dollars, enabling agency decision makers to make tough choices on a day-to-day basis and for long-term management challenges. Given the critical challenges facing government today, the ability of government executives to properly align mission support functions with mission delivery can help them respond more effectively to their mission and management challenges simultaneously, as well as drive change within their department. The U.S.

Prairie Dog Companions? A Federal News Radio online survey “shows feds are happiest when they work in offices where they can close their doors. Cubicles and open spaces with little separating them from colleagues are a recipe for distraction and lower productivity, they say. ‘My colleagues just pop up like prairie dogs and ask me questions all day,’ said one respondent.” Do Lessons from IRS Scandal Apply?