New Idea Thirty-two: Data Based Decision-making (Submitted Online)

[New Ideas for Government]

Government agencies, minimally those invovled in healthcare should not be spending money that cannot be backed up with sufficient data. Data does not necessarily require years and years of collection or reaching the perfect data set. However, an office head should be able to determine the best spending methods with the goal of benefiting the most people.

[New Ideas for Government]

Comment Submitted Online: The biggest single change government can make is to create the commitment in every agency that mission includes the requirement to create and pass on evidence-based knowledge about program costs, impacts and outcomes. We never could -- and especially now cannot -- afford continuing support for ineffective or inefficient programs.

[Daniel Gilbert]

Determining the public value basis for decisions is a popular topic of discussion around the globe. The information is available that lets agencies analyse consumers needs, frustrations, wants, and behavior, though in most cases it is not tracked or in a format to be analyzed. If you consider the various technologies at play in delivering services, be it call center, service center, web, over the counter, traditional voice, and the technologies providing the supporting back-end systems, there are plenty of opportunities to make better decisions with a clear view of the path to improved outcomes for citizens and government.

First, understand your service environment and the opportunity to capture an improved view. Then you can look at your service architecture to see where the gaps that are preventing you from using that data intelligently. To reinforce the point already made, this does not have to be a 'big bang' effort, but can grow from incremental improvements into a significantly more effective and efficient solution.