The current US administration is pushing for more "transparency" which, among other things, has translated into Federal agencies making more of their operational data available to the public. This slide presentation, which summarizes a 17-page "white paper," discusses both strategic and tactical issues associated with making "performance data" about government programs more accessible.

1. Developing Digital Strategies for
Web-based Public Access to
Government Performance Data
Dennis D. McDonald, Ph.D.
Alexandria, Virginia, USA
web: http://www.ddmcd.com
email: ddmcd@yahoo.com
phone: 703-402-7382
February 18, 2013

2. PURPOSE OF PRESENTATION
Discuss requirements for making
government program performance data
available online.

3. BACKGROUND
This slide deck is based on:
● A presentation by OMB on the "Performance
Improvement" pages of Performance.gov at the
Jan. 29 meeting of Government Performance
Coalition in Washington DC.
● Ongoing research into transparency program
planning & assessment.
● My draft white paper on web-based access to
government program performance data.
● Personal experience in planning & managing
data transformation & access projects.

4. HIGHLIGHTS
Key points from the white paper Developing
Digital Strategies for Web-based Public Access to
Government Performance Data:
● How explicit are the website’s own goals?
● Needed: well-defined use cases & user groups.
● How should social media and collaboration
tools be used?
● The PMO as a governance and management
model.
● Is it sustainable?
● (9 more points discussed in white paper)

5. How explicit are the reporting
website’s own goals?
● It's nice to have defined goals to track
performance against, but ...
○ At least three sets of goals have to be considered:
■ The performance reporting program's own goals.
■ Cross-agency goals.
■ Within-agency goals.
○ There's more to performance reporting than just
making files and charts available -- users need
context!
○ Government programs vary in terms of:
■ The maturity of their own performance reporting.
■ Their need for -- and willingness to accept --
assistance in performance reporting.

6. Needed: well-defined use
cases and user groups
● Use cases define the "who, what, where, why,
how, and how much" for each program
participant and deliverable.
● The design and measurement of business
processes and systems for performance
reporting benefits from documented "use
cases."
● Use cases can vary in level of detail, technical
sophistication, and methodological formalism.
● Any type of disciplined use case definition is
better than none.

7. How should social media and
collaboration tools be used?
● To support production:
○ Among development teams, speed production by
reducing need for meetings and proliferation of
email attachments
● To support consumption:
○ Make it possible for users to gain access, share
information, and communicate with program
representatives.
● Don't assume that new technologies can be
managed "from the top down."
○ This includes mobile technologies such as
smartphones and tablets.

8. The PMO as a governance and
management model.
● In the world of project management, Project
Management Organizations (PMOs) are
organizations that oversee multiple projects.
● PMOs differ in terms of the control, influence,
and responsibility they have over individual
programs, projects, staff, & resources.
● Templates, tools, and techniques for PMO
management can be adapted to support the
management of program performance
reporting.

9. Is it sustainable?
● Are sufficient resources available to support
the level of service required by the
performance reporting process?
● Is continued support by reporting programs
assured?
● Are processes in place to support the
inevitable changes in how performance
reporting is managed?
● Is the role of the organization in promoting
process and data standardization defined?

10. QUESTIONS
1. Can performance reporting succeed without
explicit agreed upon goals?
2. Can high- and low-maintenance programs
co-exist for the long term?
3. What to do about "email addicts"?
4. Should cross-agency (as opposed to within-
agency) goal reporting be the primary focus?
5. What about cost reporting?

11. FOR MORE INFORMATION
For more information, contact:
Dennis D. McDonald, Ph.D.
Alexandria, Virginia, USA
Web: www.ddmcd.com
Email: ddmcd@yahoo.com
Phone: 703-402-7382
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