Transparent Government by Donald Gordon

Author:Donald Gordon
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Prometheus
Published: 2014-03-20T00:00:00+00:00

“MARYLAND'S STATESTAT WEBSITE (STATE OF MARYLAND),” BY ELIZABETH FRANZ

Abstract

Initially developed as an executive tool to assist in driving performance accountability in government, Maryland's StateStat program has progressed to become an instrument of government transparency. Ushered in by then newly elected Governor Martin O'Malley, the StateStat program was modeled after the CitiStat program O'Malley created as mayor of Baltimore but has expanded significantly to improve transparency and promote public engagement.

After legislation to create StateStat was signed by Governor O'Malley in April 2007, the full website and open-data portal were opened for the public in January 2008, at statestat.maryland.gov.1 Moving from a performance-management tool used by the governor and other government leaders, the current model has grown under StateStat director Beth Blauer to include a dashboard-report view of the administration's major policy goals, an interactive map center, and a plethora of easily accessible datasets. The StateStat site also provides the ability to collect data volunteered by citizens through simple polling questions, preparing the path for further research and policy discussions by state agencies.

Such complex models of data collection and utilization are sometimes thought of as expensive and difficult to maintain. To the contrary, the StateStat site was created with a budget of $361,000, with annual expenses of less than $400,000.2 While this is still a significant amount of money, the return in savings through performance management by the various agencies and the governor's office more than make up for expenditures. For example, by analyzing the data of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS) collected for StateStat, opportunities to cut overtime for corrections officers were found. By acting on these opportunities and continuing to watch the data, the DPSCS was able to save $12 million in overtime costs over two years.3

The original CitiStat model, still currently used in Baltimore, was born of the New York Police Department's CompStat program.4 Now widely used throughout most mid- to large-sized police departments and in as many as nineteen cities across the United States, the concept of statistics-based management is quickly becoming a style of management preferred by many.5 The way in which Maryland's StateStat program has made a name for itself is in its broadened use of that performance data to foster and promote transparency.

Employing the reports collected by each participating agency, the StateStat website compiles and presents that data in a clear, concise, and timely manner while tying it to relevant policy goals identified by the administration. Along with the dashboard-view reports of each objective is a section titled, “How Can I Get Involved?” which includes relevant links to various programs or information within Maryland government. Furthermore, the breakdown of data by goal, agency, and other means allows citizens to easily navigate to and view the information most relevant to them. As the average citizen cannot—and probably does not want to—dig through facts and figures for each state agency, these various methods of compartmentalization make the site manageable for the public.

In order to cultivate engagement, there are numerous ways within the site to provide feedback to individual agencies, the StateStat office, and the governor's office.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.