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| Leadership |
The
Miami-Dade County Commissioner has partnered with the University of Miami to
train newly elected officials on how to govern effectively and ethically. Under
the Good Government Initiative, public leaders will enter a “boot camp” of
classes that include mock exercises in balancing budgets, walking tours of
inner-city neighborhoods, and seminars on local issues, media relations,
collective problem solving, and ethics.
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| Technology |
Since
2008, Charlotte, North Carolina, has held a business
intelligence Olympiad every two years for managers and analysts in its
various city departments to exhibit both municipal analytical talents while
promoting best practices. During the Olympiad, city departments compete to
solve a fictional problem, such as a spike in gasoline prices or a
hurricane, using analytics and appropriate data to support their proposed
solution. Past competitions have been judged by city management personnel,
commercial technical experts, and academics. The next competition is
scheduled for spring 2012.
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| Civic Engagement |
Citizens
looking to voice their opinions and receive an official response from the Obama
administration can now submit and sign e-petitions to the
White House.
The "We the People" website allows citizens to call for federal
action on a range of issues. If the e-petition gathers more than 5,000
signatures in 30 days, White House staff will review it, forward it to the
appropriate office, and generate a response to it. The White House digital
director observes that the tool can help the administration manage communications
from individuals in a more streamlined manner.
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| Poverty Alleviation |
To assist in
the identification of and delivery of services to India's poor, the Indian
government is creating the world's
largest biometric database. With a scan of the eyes and a swipe of a
finger, the technology will assign a 12-digit identifying number to each
person, which he can then use, along with his thumbprint, to open
a bank account or gain access to welfare benefits. The goal of the
free and voluntary database to is to allow India’s masses to circumvent the
sprawling, overlapping, and sometimes corrupt local bureaucracies while linking
them more closely to the growing economy. The project is expected to take
a decade to complete.
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| Alternative Education |
Houston
public schools have embarked upon a unique plan to imitate successful
urban charter schools
to raise student achievement. Charter schools, which are publicly funded
but independently operated, often involve longer classes and school years, and
focus on academic rigor, supplementary instructors, and innovative instructional
methods. With the assistance of Harvard’s Dr. Roland Fryer, an education
economist, the changes are currently being implemented in nine secondary
schools, with 11 elementary schools to be added this year. While the
experiment has had mixed results thus far, Houston officials are committed
to learning from successful educational examples.
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| Environmental Management |
The California
Conservation Corps and the U.S. Forest Service are working together to
give veterans facing a uneven job market the chance to earn a living and
learn skills that will enable them to pursue careers in public land
stewardship. Under the $1.5 million Veterans Green Corps, veterans will conduct
forest health and wildfire prevention, learning the tools and science behind
the trades while providing valuable manpower assistance. Aside from
providing them with compensation as they make the transition back to civilian
life, the program can become a springboard to full-time careers in firefighting
and forestry jobs.
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| Urban Ecology |
In
Massachusetts, the Cambridge Department of Public Works launched the Cambridge Tree
Ambassador
program to spur residents and business owners to nurture young trees in their
neighborhood. Over the summer, the tree ambassador cycled to inspect and
care for new trees, as well as approach nearby pedestrians and residents to promote
their upkeep. Further, the department's new "Junior Forester
Program" involves the adoption of young trees by youth, serving as a
learning experience and an urban environmental boon. With over 17,000
trees in the city, the department does not have the staffing necessary to weed,
water, and mulch young trees in the sometimes harsh urban environment in which
they grow.
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| Transparency |
The
U.S. Office of Management and Budget has launched a new online dashboard to make efforts to
improve the overall performance and effectiveness of the federal government
more transparent. While the Performance.gov site was initially delayed by
budget constraints, it now allows the public to monitor spending, federal
property disposal, productivity gains, and hiring progress on an agency-by-agency
basis. Users can also search by themes such as acquisition, financial
management, human resources, technology, performance improvement, open
government, sustainability, and customer service. Officials say the site
provides a way to make the federal government more accountable.
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| When New Asphalt Gets Old |
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Cutting ribbons on new transportation infrastructure often pays immediate benefits for public officials. The savings from properly funding maintenance, on the other hand, are longer in coming and often accrue to those officials' successors.
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| Talking Trash in Chicago |
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There's nothing like a fiscal crisis to promote government efficiency. To save millions of dollars, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel wants to change the way garbage is collected.
Newsletter produced by: Jessica Engelman, editor; Brendan St. Amant, researcher and writer.
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About the Ash Center
The Roy and Lila Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation advances excellence in governance and strengthens democratic institutions worldwide. Through its research, education, international programs, and government innovations awards, the Center fosters creative and effective problem solving and serves as a catalyst for addressing many of the most pressing needs of the world's citizens. The Ford Foundation is a founding donor of the Center. Additional information about the Ash Center is available at http://ash.harvard.edu.
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