Marking ICMA’s 100th anniversary seems like an appropriate time to look both back and forward at the place of data in local government management.

While Doris Kearns Goodwin shed light on the Progressive Era in terms of the outsized personalities of its national leaders, ICMA members in the early years were already focused on data-driven management.  Ethics, efficiency, engineering and sound financial management all helped differentiate the professional manager from the more political spoils system to which many people had become resigned.

ICMA staff member and future Nobel Prize-winning economist Herbert Simon helped paved the way to a focus on performance measurement back in the 1930s.  And while many local jurisdictions followed that lead, and ICMA green books, yearbooks and conferences showcased the leading practices, the field remained somewhat constrained until technology facilitated its growth.

Back in the 1980s, ICMA’s tools for evaluating a jurisdiction’s financial condition included paper and pencil graphing.  (Speaking of history, completing that assessment was one of my first projects as a local government intern.)  Soon, however, the proliferation of spreadsheet software made dynamic data management and “what if” scenarios a matter of a few… DOS commands.

While technology continues to change how managers use data, it has also led to a revolution in how that data is accessed and by whom.  Once relegated to dusty budget volumes on file with the clerk’s office, performance data is now available through the Internet near real-time, and as a result, it can also serve as an effective tool for decision-making and issue engagement among elected officials, businesses, and local residents. 

At the conference on Tuesday, ICMA convened a performance management stakeholders forum to discuss the changing face of our stakeholders, and of the field itself.  ICMA itself took a big step into the cloud computing area with the launch of the new InsightsTM program here at the conference.  Built on a partnership with SAS, the system brings together local government-led data collection, powerful statistical and graphing tools, integrated dashboards for meaningful communication with the public, and the options to build on custom measures, regional consortia, and direct linkages to local databases.

“Performance management is an increasingly important practice for local governments” said ICMA Director of Performance Initiatives Randall H. Reid, “and our forum attendees recognize that reality.” “The era of big data and metrics allows analytics to use this data to better address the complexity of today’s problem’s and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of our programs.”

Forum attendees were particularly interested in using the available technology to enhance the online availability of the data and share a more complete understanding of its meaning with their local residents.

It’s been a great hundred years for ICMA, and I look forward to all the results to be measured and performance to be improved in the years ahead.