Deloitte Provides Playbook for Data-driven Decision Making in Government

WASHINGTON, Dec. 14, 2016  /PRNewswire/ -- According to a new Deloitte report, "Mission analytics: Data-driven decision making in government," the journey toward data-driven resource allocation requires three essential elements: 1) political leadership, 2) a commitment to sustained technological progress, and 3) a willingness to measure and report on success transparently.    

"Our use of data to derive insights for powerful outcomes is transforming the public sector, from health care to transportation to defense, and everything in between," said William D. Eggers, executive director of Deloitte's Center for Government Insights. "Many government agencies want to use data to improve their resource decisions, but lack a clear roadmap for doing so."  

Due to increased access to talent, tools and richer government data, many agencies have reached a tipping point where creating an insight driven advantage is more possible than ever. While technological advances have been made and access to the necessary workforce skills have improved, the journey to data-driven mission management is not without challenges. Many agencies face obstacles such as not knowing what data to collect, insufficient data governance and unstructured data.

"One of the notions that should be debunked is that one needs 'perfect' data to proceed with analytics," said Vishal Kapur, principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP. "More often than not, agencies are surprised to see the valuable insights they can gain from imperfect or seemingly insufficient data. Also, the solution may not always require 'big-data.' More often, it is the small data hidden in organizational silos that provide the most valuable insights."

Most agencies that transform themselves into data-centric organizations go through four stages:

• Make your mission measurable: Define the mission in ways that make it quantifiable. The premise is that specific and challenging goals, combined with continual analysis and feedback, can improve performance.
• Collect mission-critical data: Create a platform that allows for the collection, storage, and dissemination of all relevant data. Different datasets may have to be brought together to gain a full picture of mission performance.
• Use analytics to move from data to insights: Build tools to pull meaning out of the data compiled and measured. Performance information has little significance in itself. It should be translated into "meaning" to become valuable.
• Translate insights into outcomes: Insights without actions are of little value. Agencies that successfully use data analytics to improve their operations rely on feedback mechanisms to translate insights into concrete operational changes for better outcomes.

The report includes case studies from federal, state and local government agencies, including:

• Department of Justice's Office of Justice Programs
• Pennsylvania's Bureau of Child Support Enforcement
• U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
• Federal Railroad Administration
• Economic Research Service, a division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture
• Virginia's Department of Social Services
• District of Columbia's Child and Family Services Agency

About Deloitte's Center for Government Insights
The Deloitte Center for Government Insights produces groundbreaking research to help government solve its most complex problems. Through forums and immersive workshops, we engage with public officials on a journey of positive transformation, crystallizing insights to help them understand trends, overcome constraints and expand the limits of what is possible. For more information, visit www.Deloitte.com/us/center-for-government-insights.

About Deloitte
Deloitte provides industry-leading audit, consulting, tax, and advisory services to many of the world's most admired brands, including 80 percent of the Fortune 500. Our people work across more than 20 industry sectors to deliver measurable and lasting results that help reinforce public trust in our capital markets, inspire clients to make their most challenging business decisions with confidence, and help lead the way toward a stronger economy and a healthy society. For more information, visit http://www.deloitte.com/us.

As used in this document, "Deloitte" means Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries. Please see www.deloitte.com/us/about for a detailed description of the legal structure of Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting.

SOURCE Deloitte

Related Links

http://www.deloitte.com/us