I’ve created this special compendium of posts that are relevant to planning and managing data related programs and projects. There are four groups:
All in eGovernment
While it is true that a platform such as GitHub is not really designed to be as user friendly as, say, Facebook, the fact is that the sharing of technical expertise among mid-level IT staff and data administrators in different governmental agencies has probably been at least as important to open data progress as the Administration’s top down support.
“Mobile First” Is An Obsolete Strategy
Government “mobile strategy” must evolve beyond a device focus to a user focus. What we refer to as “mobile devices” today are just the tip of the iceberg as we contemplate our movement through an increasingly interconnected world.
How Important Is ‘Total Cost of Standardization’ to the DATA Act?
Last week I attended a meeting in DC sponsored by the Data Transparency Coalition, PwC, and Intel. Representatives of the Federal agencies likely to manage implementation of the evolving DATA Act presented their thoughts on implementing the Act’s requirements for standardizing and reporting on Federal financial data.
AGA’s Citizen Centric Reporting and Government Transparency
The idea behind AGA’s citizen centric reporting initiative is straightforward: give citizens numbers about the government they can understand.
When Does a Public Data Good Become a Private Data Resource?
It may be that the greatest challenge facing private entrepreneurs in developing new and valuable information products and services based at least partially on public data will be public resistance to paying for information, no matter how new, innovative, or unique these producrts or services are.
What I Learned About "Budgeting At The Brink"
I expect that adjustments to IT projects at some agencies and programs are going to be pretty messy, painful, and ugly as indiscriminate budget cuts continue to ripple down to individual programs.
In a vain attempt to locate on the role .pdf files will be playing in this I performed a quick and dirty Wordle analysis:
How Our Increasing Digital Connectedness Improves Government Program Evaluation
There will always be a need to conduct formal evaluations of how well government programs perform. Such evaluations must take into account the complexity of programs and the need to distinguish among short term and long term impacts and the intervening conditions that also impact program effectiveness.
Just Measuring Government Performance Is Not Enough
The Washington Post article this past week “Why not measure how well government works?” asks the reasonable question, “Why aren’t more government programs evaluated?” Also asked, is “Why aren’t government programs that are evaluated and found wanting just canceled?”
Am I being overly sensitive since I gave up using Facebook myself and don’t recommend it to others? Or should the fact that so many people use Facebook be the real deciding factor?
At issue is whether the public will have the tools, skills, wherewithal, and resources to locate, understand, and make use of the data. If not, the division between the “haves” and “have nots” will be exacerbated, no matter how many data files are offered for download.
Matching Technological Literacy with Delivery of Government Services
Is the “open government” movement’s emphasis on technology creating two classes of citizens based on technological literacy?
On Defining the "Maturity" of Open Data Programs
Making government program data more “open” should be the responsibility of the program that is responsible for generating the data. The cost of doing so should also be part of the budget of that program.
How Will We Know When "Sequestration" Hurts Us?
Given availability of data on government programs from sources as diverse as Performance.gov, Data.gov, Sunlight Foundation, and the State of the USA project, where can we go for impartial reporting on the impacts sequestration will have on the US economy?
Transparently Speaking, Are Bad Data Better than No Data At All?
I’ve been researching government program transparency and the hype surrounding “big data.” Given OMB’s recent statement of support for improving access to accurate Federal spending data I’ve also been giving some thought to what improved access might actually mean, based on my own experience with data conversion and consolidation projects.
Developing Digital Strategies for Web-based Public Access to Government Performance Data
On January 29, 2013 I was privileged to attend a meeting of the Government Performance Coalition at George Washington University in Washington DC. During that meeting Shelley Metzenbaum, OMB Associate Director for Performance and Personnel, discussed the “performance improvement” pages of the Performance.gov website.
It’s no secret that mobile technologies are disrupting traditional IT management approaches. Industry analysts such as Gartner acknowledge this. But what’s the link between the public’s increasing use of mobile technologies and the governments agencies at all levels are making their programs — and their data — more open and accessible?
Our ability to store and provide access to vast amounts of information is growing. We need to focus on how such information is to be used most efficiently and most effectively.
At the same time, through careful planning and design we must avoid the expense of developing and supporting systems and websites that people do not or cannot use. In these times of fiscal austerity such an outcome would be inexcusable.
Why I'm Uneasy about "Big Data" and Government Programs
I appreciate that scaling, discoverability, and innovation are all potentially enhanced when the size, variety, quality and number of data sets surrounding a particular process or function are aggregated and exposed. Jewels can become visible. Inconsistencies can be identified and resolved. Impacts can be tracked.