National Academy of Public Administration’s Post

Policy Simulator and Public Administration Reform Analytics We are confident that a culture of responsible decision-making, like politics as a whole, must be based on robust analytics. The European Commission and SIGMA have created a data portal that enables national administrations, civil society, and those supporting public administration reforms to simulate and analyze the reforms necessary to improve public administration efficiency on the path to European integration. This tool helps track public administration reforms through a set of relevant indicators. The methodological framework measures both the prerequisites for capable governance (laws, policies, structures, and procedures) and how the reforms are being implemented. The analytical report covers six key areas regulating public administration reform:  - “Strategic Framework for Public Administration Reform,”  - “Policy Development and Coordination,”  - “Public Service and Human Resource Management,”  - “Accountability,”  - “Service Delivery,”  - “Public Financial Management.” The portal allows for comparisons of countries' capacities and presents data for public administration reform analytics https://lnkd.in/eK2t6M5x Which analytical platforms/tools/databases do you use?

People resist change when they perceive it threatens their “comfort level” and status quo. It’s interesting that they welcome change if it benefits them but resist when they are personally affected, especially if their livelihood is affected. Being a change leader a large part of my professional life, I can attest that leading the transformation required to dismantle the Deep State will require more than executive decisions and legal actions. John Kotter in his classic book “Leading Change” defines eight critical steps, of which President Trump has already addressed the first four: Establish a sense of urgency✅, create a Guiding Coalition ✅, Develop a Vision (MAGA) and strategies ✅, Communicate the Vision✅. However, the next step is the most difficult -Remove barriers to action. The release below outlines eight sensible actions necessary to get to the 6th step of “Create short term wins” that will lead to strengthening the new culture. Dismantling the Deep State is essential to anchoring change in the New Government of We The People, which is going to take the energies of ALL who voted for MAGA. The work is not just within Federal Government-the swamp extends to local and state governments as well. CONVERTING the minds and hearts of those who voted for Harris/Walz is an ongoing effort.

Where.It.Goes... '...the government has long had challenges in maintaining accurate, complete, and consistent data to track its spending...recently in November 2023 the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found problems with the official source of federal spending information USAspending.gov: 49 agencies hadn’t reported data from fiscal year 2022...the missing data from just 25 of those agencies was worth more than $5 billion...problems include subaward totals that exceed the prime award amount (primary grant recipients can distribute a portion of the award to a subrecipient to execute tasks on specific projects), duplicate subaward records, and missing subaward data...this leaves Congress and the American public unable to find reliable answers to key questions about federal spending: What was it used for? Were communities or businesses missed? Was the money spent equitably?...' https://lnkd.in/gxwmBtMc

The world of #state and #local government is hobbled by seemingly endless streams of bad data that are used to manage and to make policy. How can users of this information spot the dubious #data before they trust, it, use it, and repeat it? Barrett and Greene Inc. provide a half a dozen tell-tale signs in today's B&G Report titled "Mousetraps for Bad Data." Read the column for the full list, but just to whet your appetite, here's one brief example: Beware reports or articles that use numbers that are far, far too exact, as when a project is reported as costing $1,436,432.10. Precision like that doesn't exist in the real world, and a range of figures is much more useful and believable. Read on at: https://lnkd.in/e-kt6F_t Mark Funkhouser Don Kettl Nick Hart, Ph.D. American Society for Public Administration Chris Morrill Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) John Bartle Amy Resnick Jenny Wong Alexandra Ferčak Michael Jacobson Shelby Kerns Rudy de Leon Dinglas, Ph.D. Aroon P Manoharan Douglas Jones, CGAP, CIA, CRMA Bill Glasgall The Volcker Alliance Daniel Chenok

Many public administrators and those that follow government action have spent their careers banking on the accuracy of data. Barrett and Greene Inc. remind us of some basic 'rules of the road' for reading, believing, and citing data offered about government performance. Don't compare apples to oranges. We come from a complex world and what is happening in a densely populated urban area doesn't describe what likely is occurring in a low-population, rural state. Exact numbers can often be a smokescreen. Data points calculated to the cent can be intended to leave an impression that the provider is an expert. You should be wary and perhaps think the opposite. Data analysis is tough business. If the author-provider of data doesn't note qualifiers or conditions, it isn't usually because they don't exist. Again, 'sounding' too much the expert is a warning that the purveyor of government data lacks understanding of or is overstating the applicability of the data. And my favorite. Small groups of anecdotes do not a data pattern make. A few stories are compelling. They may be suggestive of a larger problem. However, they don't quantify the frequency or severity of what is being observed/studied. Humility is the first rule for compiling, presenting, and analyzing government data. A realization that we might not know everything, and that we need to acknowledge our limitations and shortcomings as we do this reporting is a great start. #PublicAdministration #DataAnalysis #GovernmentPerformance #PublicPolicy

The Department of Government Efficiency (DGE) aims to transform how we think about public service operations. But what does "efficiency" mean for the government? While critics worry that focusing too much on "efficiency" could weaken essential services and compromise equity, supporters see it as a long-overdue step toward more accountable governance. Vianna Rodgers explores in her ACE brief how the DGE initiative helps shape a transparent, responsive future. Explore the DGE in detail below: https://lnkd.in/g8UwB_ET

“Government’s poor data means it lacks a clear picture of the true state of affairs across the public sector. With the maintenance backlog estimated to have reached at least £49billion, government must urgently break the cycle of short-term thinking, dither and delay, which only leads to spiralling future costs.” This quote by Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP, chair of the Committee of Public Accounts, in today's Public Finance Update, caught my eye. The issue of data is, indeed, a broken record. I've spent my entire professional career working with public sector organisations and partnerships to develop needs-based public estate strategies. I don't think I have EVER come across a complete (and reliable) dataset. Consequently, before any strategic thinking can be done, I find myself advising on the pretty basic task of data collation. There is more to life than just 'backlog maintenance', however. Where is the asset located, what are the characteristics of that area? What is the 'purpose' of the asset, and does it meet local needs? What is the fire capacity of the asset, and is it compliant? What is the EPC or DEC rating, and the cost of hitting net zero? What are the annual running costs, and the future cost projections? These (and more) are all crucial pieces of information to inform an asset strategy - which incur significant cost and time to gather. The Public Finance article gives hope to the introduction of an enhanced data collection system, called InSite, by March 2025. Sponsored by the Office of Government Property, this system will "collate strategic information on properties owned, occupied and managed by government and the wider public sector, into a central database, from where it will be surfaced for examination by users." This is fantastic news (I hope 🙏🏽) and look forward to seeing the range of data collected, the quality and accuracy of that data and how it is interpreted by the users to make long-term, value for money decisions about the public estate. The cynic in me says this isn't the end of the story 🤐 #frustrated #publicestate #advisor #data #is #key

As you may have noticed from our (limited) online presence, we have been to networking events, done interviews and given talks about what we do at 3-DM. This begs the question: what do we even do? At 3-DM, our mission is to make Data Science accessible to small organizations, helping them enhance decision-making processes. We focus primarily on two sectors: municipalities and supply chains. Here’s a look at our work in the municipal social domain. Use Case: Social Domain in Municipalities Municipalities strive to ensure citizens receive necessary services like wheelchairs, therapy, and housing. However, they face four key challenges: 1. Access to Help: Citizens often face long waits and may not receive timely or adequate support. 2. Financial Oversight: Municipalities frequently exceed budgets by millions, lacking clear financial control. 3. Healthcare Costs: Providers may charge inconsistent fees for identical services, leading to inefficiencies and potential exploitation. 4. Administrative Inefficiency: Poor data management results in delayed responses to even simple inquiries. At 3-DM, we tackle these issues by developing dashboards that bring transparency to: - Financial management - Client service journeys - Administrative processes Interested in seeing how we can help? Get in touch!

"We'll do that later when it's clear how exactly it works."   Sounds tempting: Many companies have not yet conducted a materiality analysis. It's taken a couple of days in the past. And the CSRD report is a long way off, right?   No. And starting earlier costs less.   Many companies underestimate the complexity of CSRD and the time required to comply. If you want to achieve "CSRD-readiness" without expensive brute force, it typically takes 6-18 months from "I don't have much" to "I have a report with robust data."   That's how long it takes for companies to: ✏️Conduct a CSRD-compliant materiality analysis, including stakeholder involvement 🔍Identify information gaps and decide how and when to close them 💻Upgrade software systems and data management; establish workflows for data collection within the company, and gather data across departments and actors in the upstream and downstream value chain 📙Compile the report and get it approved and audited.   Rushing through these coordination-intensive steps is likely to result in a reporting system that is painful to use, ineffective and expensive.   Hence, starting earlier pays off.   What does your timeline look like? #csrd #esgreporting Better Earth Sebastian Philipps Fenja Bremer

Taxpayers pay good money to public servants to produce defective services at scale, as well as to correct them... Public project officers should discover by calculation, not by judgement, what's happening with their projects. One thing that distinguishes an efficient government project, is a sound understanding of basic data analysis. Imagine the inefficiency without it: 1. you did your best 2. you don't really know what the causes of a problem are 3. you don't really know how your project is going. Suppose that: 1. you knew what the cause of a problem is 2. you knew how your project was going 3. you did your best. All eyes are on public servants now. The great ones will find better ways to understand their projects and improve them. #publicservicecareers #DOGE #government #data #analytics #HR