Managing at the Speed of Light: Improving Mission-Support Performance

The House and Senate Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittees requested this study to help DOE's three major mission-support organizations improve their operations to better meet the current and future needs of the department. The passage of the Recovery Act only increased the importance of having DOE's mission-support offices working in the most effective, efficient, and timely manner as possible. While following rules and regulations is essential, the foremost task of the mission-support offices is to support the department's mission, i.e., the programs that DOE is implementing, whether in Washington D.C. or in the field. As a result, the Panel offered specific recommendations to strengthen the mission-focus and improve the management of each of the following support functions based on five "management mandates":- Strategic Vision- Leadership- Mission and Customer Service Orientation- Tactical Implementation- Agility/AdaptabilityKey FindingsThe Panel made several recommendations in each of the functional areas examined and some overarching recommendations for the corporate management of the mission-support offices that they believed would result in significant improvements to DOE's mission-support operations. The Panel believed that adopting these recommendations will not only make DOE a better functioning organization, but that most of them are essential if DOE is to put its very large allocation of Recovery Act funding to its intended uses as quickly as possible

Open Government Architecture: The evolution of De Jure Standards, Consortium Standards, and Open Source Software

Conducted for the Treasury Board of Québec, this study seeks to present recent contributions to the evolution, within an enterprise architecture context, of de jure and de facto standards by various actors in the milieu, industrial consortia, and international standardization committees active in open source software. In order to be able to achieve its goals of delivering services to citizens and society, the Government of Québec must integrate its computer systems to create a service oriented open architecture. Following in the footsteps of various other governments and the European Community, such an integration will require elaboration of an interoperability framework, i.e. a structured set of de jure standards, de facto standards, specifications, and policies allowing computer systems to interoperate. Thus, we recommend that the Government of Québec: Pursue its endeavours to elaborate an interoperability framework for its computer systems that is based on open de jure and de facto standards. This framework should not only reflect the criteria enumerated in this study and apply to internal computer systems, but it should also extend to Web services supplied to organizations outside of the government. This framework should explicitly prioritize open source de jure and de facto standards and include a policy covering free software. The interoperability framework should initially draw on that of the state of Massachusetts. In the medium term, is should be as comprehensive as that of the British government. Integrate this interoperability framework into its enterprise architecture. Publish this interoperability framework with its enterprise architecture. Specify this interoperability framework in its calls for tenders. Elaborate a policy of compliance with this framework for all new applications.

Managing ubiquitous eco cities: the role of urban telecommunication infrastructure networks and convergence technologies

A successful urban management system for a Ubiquitous Eco City requires an integrated approach. This integration includes bringing together economic, socio-cultural and urban development with a well orchestrated, transparent and open decision making mechanism and necessary infrastructure and technologies. Rapidly developing information and telecommunication technologies and their platforms in the late 20th Century improves urban management and enhances the quality of life and place. Telecommunication technologies provide an important base for monitoring and managing activities over wired, wireless or fibre-optic networks. Particularly technology convergence creates new ways in which the information and telecommunication technologies are used. The 21st Century is an era where information has converged, in which people are able to access a variety of services, including internet and location based services, through multi-functional devices such as mobile phones and provides opportunities in the management of Ubiquitous Eco Cities. This paper discusses the recent developments in telecommunication networks and trends in convergence technologies and their implications on the management of Ubiquitous Eco Cities and how this technological shift is likely to be beneficial in improving the quality of life and place. The paper also introduces recent approaches on urban management systems, such as intelligent urban management systems, that are suitable for Ubiquitous Eco Cities

Initiatives to support the delivery of services to Indigenous Australians

This audit assessed the effectiveness of the Department of Human Services’ (DHS) implementation of initiatives to support the delivery of services to Indigenous Australians. Audit objective, criteria and scope The audit objective was to assess the effectiveness of DHS’ implementation of initiatives to support the delivery of services to Indigenous Australians. To form a conclusion against the objective, the ANAO adopted the following high level criteria: sound planning and administration arrangements were established to identify and address the access needs of Indigenous customers; service delivery arrangements were established to support the access needs of Indigenous customers; and performance monitoring and reporting arrangements provided visibility over service delivery to Indigenous customers and information to improve service delivery. Overall conclusion The Department of Human Services (DHS) provides services to a large proportion of the Indigenous population and expects that this customer group will continue to grow as a proportion of its overall customer base. Effective service delivery to disadvantaged groups remains challenging for government departments and a number of factors can affect access and uptake of services by Indigenous customers. In line with its goal of providing high quality services to all Australians, the department has made a number of organisational investments to better understand the needs of customers (including Indigenous customers) and the performance of the department in meeting customer needs through universally accessible services. The department has also acknowledged that accessibility to its universal services is central in its approach to Indigenous service delivery. Overall DHS has developed a reasonable approach to improving its focus on supporting the delivery of services to Indigenous Australians, although there is scope to apply key elements of the approach more consistently across the department. DHS’ key organisational responses to strengthening its approach to Indigenous servicing have included the development of the Indigenous Servicing Strategy in 2012; structural arrangements, including specialist staff focused on supporting Indigenous servicing at both the frontline and national office levels; consideration of Indigenous service delivery issues and priorities in departmental business planning; and development of systems and processes to monitor data relating to Indigenous access and use of DHS services. The department has also worked to promote improving Indigenous service delivery as a corporate priority to which all DHS areas need to contribute, and has promoted this priority through senior management of the department. The development of the Indigenous Servicing Strategy has provided the foundation of a planning and monitoring framework to support an improved standard of Indigenous servicing across the department. Reflecting the importance of improving access to mainstream services for Indigenous customers, a central aspect of DHS’ approach is the concept that Indigenous servicing is ‘everyone’s business’. However, while various areas of the department pay specific attention to the accessibility of the services they are able to influence or control, this is not uniformly the case across the organisation. In particular, the approach taken by different business areas and service zones to reflect Indigenous service issues was variable, with some areas demonstrating considered approaches while other areas adopted a more minimalist approach with little explicit consideration of Indigenous matters. There is scope to improve guidance for planning and to develop a stronger quality assurance process in relation to the development of plans by business areas and service zones. DHS collects and maintains data relating to customer usage across a range of service areas. The analysis of usage data can assist departments with respect to assessing the effectiveness of resource allocations and service delivery approaches, as well as informing aspects of policy development. Indigenous usage data, while available, is not regularly extracted for analysis and often does not allow a comparison to be made between non‑Indigenous usage and Indigenous usage of services. Such comparative analysis would contribute to the department’s understanding of whether equitable and accessible services are being provided for Indigenous customers. More specifically, improved data analysis would allow the department to provide front line and program design staff with a better understanding of the composition and needs of their customer base, including the unique needs of particular groups, and allow them to respond to service gaps and needs with targeted resources within operational budgets. Through the Indigenous Servicing Strategy, DHS has established a performance framework to provide internal management information on the department’s performance in providing services to Indigenous customers. The department’s first report on the ISS identified several areas where DHS had performed favourably against performance measures. These included reported increases in the numbers of Indigenous people registered for Medicare and increases in the use of self-service channels. The framework is a positive step in developing a departmental‑wide view of Indigenous usage of key services. A further positive aspect of the performance framework is that performance information is also collected on aspects of DHS’ internal capability. There is however scope to improve the measures used in the framework through the inclusion of baseline information on service usage by Indigenous customers and targets for its improvement. The ANAO has made one recommendation aimed at improving the use of existing data within DHS in order to inform service delivery, service design and to enhance the department’s ability to contribute to policy development

Human Resource Management in New Jersey State Government

In 2005, the State of New Jersey Department of Personnel commissioned the Heldrich Center to study the critical human resource management issues confronting New Jersey state government. This report highlights the study's findings including: the human resource management function must be elevated to a position of primacy in state government, the state must reengineer the Department of Personnel into an effective human resource management agency with a broader mission than overseeing transactions and compliance with statutes and regulations, and the state must support its human resource function with adequate staff resources

Engaging Outside Counsel in Transactional Law Clinics

This article examines the plurality of objectives and methods by which transactional law clinics collaborate with outside attorneys to competently represent their organizational clients on a wide range of legal issues. Some transactional law clinics rely on outside counsel as informal legal advisors or consultants; others collaborate with outside counsel for the development of community projects or referral of legal work; many transactional law clinics engage outside counsel as “local counsel” when assisting a client in other jurisdictions or internationally; still others engage outside counsel more formally to assist in student supervision of client work. For some, the idea of a clinic working with outside counsel poses a credible threat to clinical pedagogy, clinical faculty status, and the permanent integration of clinics into the law school curriculum. To others, collaborating with outside counsel is a part of everyday client representation, and may be necessary for ethical and professional responsibility reasons. While identifying and discussing the import of these concerns, this article asserts the benefits of collaborating with outside attorneys for law school clinical programs and proposes a framework for deciding whether and how to collaborate with outside attorneys. Specifically, this article sets forth a deliberate and systematic decision-making process for the clinical law professor’s use. The decision-making process proposed is context-specific and dependent on the objectives of the clinical law professor. This article further recommends proactive steps that a clinical law professor can take to facilitate the clinical law professor’s objectives if she decides to engage outside counsel, such as entering into a Memorandum of Understanding to solidify roles and responsibilities of all parties involved in the collaboration. While this article examines collaboration with outside counsel primarily through the lens of transactional law based clinical programs, our discussion provides helpful guidance to law school clinical programs generally