Performance Analytics | Alliance for Innovation
? ?Publications
Given the increasing pressure on local governments to use data and information to guide decision making, Kevin C. Desouza at Arizona State University conducted a series of interviews?of?city managers and staff in various roles, many of which were Alliance for Innovation members, to better understand how local governments are using data to increase operational efficiencies, tackle complex problems and develop innovative programs to address real challenges.
The first phase of this project resulted in the development of a maturity model identifying the stages an organization progresses through to achieve increasing sophistication in the execution of performance analytics. The article released on February 8, 2017, outlines how local government managers can use this model to identify ways to move up the maturity scale and improve their operations.
In Phase II of the project the research team surveyed local government to measure the maturity of their organizations on various elements (e.g. data management, metrics) of performance analytics. This survey will allow the research team to benchmark local governments on performance analytics based on their features (e.g. cities versus counties, rural versus urban, etc.).
The ultimate goal of this project is to provide actionable information to local governments managers encouraging better management and utilization of data across departments. Local governments that participate in this project will be given their maturity score, the score of communities like them, and the overall maturity score of all Alliance for Innovation members participating in the study.
OnDemand Videos
Kevin Desousa first presented the results of this groundbreaking research at the Transforming Local Governments Conference in Tulsa, Oklahoma in April of 2017. In addition to the conference session, the Alliance is hosting a number of webinars on the topics of Performance Analtyics and the results of the recent survey.
What Works in Improving Local Government Performance
In this session, we showcase?What Works Cities?and highlight three localities selected for the program.?What Works Cities?in a national initiative to help 100 mid-sized American cities enhance their use of data and evidence to improve services, inform local decision making and engage residents. The?What Works Cities?standard reflects a set of aspirations and activities that create a strong foundation for cities and includes four components: commit, measure, take stock and act.??
Session Takeaways:
The State of Performance Analytics in Local Governments
The Alliance for Innovation hosted a webinar on May 22, with Kevin Desouza, Foundation Professor with the School of Public Affairs at Arizona State University where he shared his framework and connected issues of strategy, technology, data governance, and analytical knowledge. The webinar will be available on OnDemand starting June 5, 2017.
SESSION TAKEAWAYS:
Research Papers
Phase I – The State of Performance Analytics in Local Governments: An Initial Assessment
by Dr. Kevin C. Desousa
Given the increasing pressure on local governments to use data and information to guide decision making, Dr.Kevin C. Desouza at Arizona State University recently conducted a series of interviews of city managers and staff in various roles, many of which were Alliance for Innovation members, to better understand how local governments are using data to increase operational efficiencies, tackle complex problems and develop innovative programs to address real challenges.
Phase II -?The State of Performance Analytics in Local Governments: Analysis of Measures
by Dr. Kevin C. Desousa, Dr. Gregory S. Dawson, Dr. Alfred Tat-Kei Ho, Dr. Rashmi Krishnamurthy
This second report in the series builds on our previous report (The State of Performance Analytics in Local Governments: An Initial Assessment) and delves into the usage and need for performance analytics in local government. As we note, the usage of analytics reflects the reaction of local government to move away from reliance on a single individual to spot trends and make recommendation to move towards data-supported decision-making. As such, we surveyed the usage and application of performance analytics across 132 total local governments including the police, parks and recreation, public works and code enforcement departments.