US: Accountability site open to public

The federal government on 25 August 2011 introduced a new accountability website, Performance.gov, that will track the Obama Administration’s efforts to create a government that is more effective, efficient, and responsive.

Initially created in 2010 but only accessible to government agencies for internal data sharing, the website is now open to public and will host information organised into eight focus areas and by 24 federal agencies.

Visitors can track the government’s efficiency progress in the areas of: Acquisition, Financial Management, Human Resources, Technology, Performance Improvement, Open Government, Sustainability, and Customer Service.

“For each of these areas of focus, the site provides access to management dashboards, data, and descriptions of best practices – information to inform the public and to support the work of Federal users as they track their performance and strive to make government work better for the American people,” wrote Jeff Zients, Deputy Director for Management and Chief Performance Office, on the Office of Management and Budget’s blog.

“You can document the administration’s headway on reducing improper payments in all of the biggest programmes.

You can also track progress on the president’s directive to save billions of dollars in contracting and to increase competition for government contracts. And you can see how agencies are doing in managing their major IT projects, transitioning to the cloud, and shutting down hundreds of data centres.”

Performance.gov prides itself as a response to President Barack Obama’s challenge for government to cut waste, save money and better serve the American people. On its homepage, Performance.gov is described as providing “a window on the Obama Administration’s approach to improving performance and accountability”.

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