Weekly Roundup: May 27-31, 2019

Submitted by on Fri, 05/31/2019 - 08:17
Friday, May 31, 2019
John Kamensky
Articles from across the Web that we at the IBM Center for The Business of Government found interesting for the week of May 27-31, 2019.

IDEA Deadlines. Federal News Network reports: “With deadlines fast approaching for the implementation of the 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience (IDEA) Act, agency officials see a clearer path forward on making .gov websites more user-friendly and able to provide more services online to the public. . . . The IDEA Act . . . requires agencies to draft a plan to broaden the use of electronic signatures by June 20. . . . By Dec. 20, agencies must submit their plans to Congress on how to modernize their websites. The law also mandates that agencies make all paper-based forms available in an electronic format before the end of 2020.”

Hard-Wiring Customer Service. NexGov reports: “VA has never emphasized customer experience like it has in recent years, building on the instantiation of a Veteran Experience wing at the close of the Obama administration to—as of mid-May—literally codifying veterans experience principles into VA’s core values. . . . Dr. Lynda Davis, chief veterans experience officer at VA, described the rule as a watershed moment across the government, noting it was perhaps the first time a federal agency essentially baked customer experience into its mission.”

Employee Engagement vs. Organizational Effectiveness. Steve Kelman, in an op-ed for FCW, summarizes a new academic study and concludes: “. . . whether it be “employee engagement” or just good management -- managers do make a difference. Hopefully, this result can help motivate managers to understand, and act on, the importance of their efforts.”

Analytics and Workforce Management. Federal Times reports: “Many large organizations are finding that data analytics is the answer to workforce management. The ability of customized software to sift through thousands of terabytes and pull information to solve specific problems makes data a strategic asset, rather than a storage burden.”

Seat at the Table of Power. An op-ed by former GAO executive David Powner in Federal Computer Week says: “The President's Management Agenda has provided a vision of how IT can improve mission outcomes.” Powner describes three important steps to making that vision a reality.