2010 Research Agenda:

Government faces major challenges in 2010 including responding to the economic crisis, providing national security, creating and sustaining jobs and improving health care for Americans. To address these challenges, government initiatives will increase in complexity in terms of the sheer size of programs launched, the degree of innovative solutions required, the number and type of stakeholders involved and the level of collaboration necessary between government and the private sector to achieve public goals.

To help the government address these challenges, the CGI Initiative for Collaborative Government has partnered with George Mason University to conduct a series of research projects in 2010. The results from these projects will be shared with the Office of Management and Budget, the new Chief Technology Officer, the CxO Councils and Congressional committees to inform emerging policies to accelerate efficiencies.

2010 Research Projects:

Sustaining Jobs After the Stimulus: Building on Broadband

Partner: George Mason University, Department of Public and International Affairs

Author: Dr. Darrene Hackler, Associate Professor, Department of Public and International Affairs.

One of the questions bubbling among federal, state and local government leaders and observers interested in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is: How can we sustain jobs over the longer term after the stimulus money runs out?

One approach that federal, state and local leaders can find ample evidence to support is to invest in broadband connectivity in the communities that most need them. In her paper, “Sustaining Jobs After the Stimulus: Building on Broadband,” Dr. Darrene Hackler details the potential for broadband investment not just to create jobs now but also to serve as a sustaining artery for jobs in the long term.

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Aligning Policy and Technology to Optimize Health Information Exchange

Author: TBD

Many organizations, leveraging the efforts of the Office of National Coordinator of Health IT in the Department of Health and Human Services, have made measurable efforts towards creating a nationwide “health dial-tone” for health data sharing. Healthcare stakeholders, including payers, providers and consumers, are encouraged and incentivized to collaborate and share data. Now we are at crossroads where the Obama administration will turn a fresh eye to health IT as a strategic enabler of healthcare reform. This paper will explore new approaches to align government health policies (e.g., governance approaches, security policies and cross-jurisdiction data trust models) with practical IT solutions to accelerate actionable healthcare reform.

2009 Publications:

Grants and the Recovery Act: Classic challenges, new dilemmas, and best practices

Partner: George Mason University, Department of Public and International Affairs

Author: Dr. Timothy J. Conlan, Professor, Government and Politics

Over one-third of the 2009 Economic Stimulus package is composed of grants in aid to state and local governments.  Effectively distributing, spending, and administering federal grants has long presented unique challenges for federal managers and policy makers. Many of these chronic challenges are present in the ARRA, but in an aggravated form, because of the need for rapid expenditure of funds and political pressures for greater transparency, performance, and accountability. This paper will identify options and best practices for addressing critical challenges of grants management accentuated by the design and accelerated timetable of the economic stimulus program.

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Acquisition Under the Recovery Act: Buying fast, transparently, and well using the 2 1/2-day method

Partner: George Mason University, Department of Public and International Affairs

A Conversation with: Dr. Allan Burman, Adjunct Professor of Public and International Affairs

Dr. Burman had a lengthy career in the Federal government, serving in policy positions in the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of the Secretary of Defense. He had the longest tenure of any Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy, serving in the Executive Office of the President under Presidents Reagan, Bush, and Clinton. He has testified before Congress more than forty times about management, acquisition, and budget matters, including on March 5, when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs to testify about Recovery Act procurement. Dr. Burman authored the 1991 policy letter that established "performance-based contracting" and greater reliance on fixed-price contracting as the favored approach for contract reform. He also authored the policy letter that encouraged agencies to make greater use of past performance.

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