Performance.gov is a new tool for measuring sustainability at the Federal government level. The new site was launched last week by the White House. As explained by Deputy Director for Management and Chief Performance Officer Jeff Zients, Performance.gov provides a report card on Sustainability and 7 other key performance areas of the federal government.Understanding this tool can help social entrepreneurs determine how to assess their own organization’s sustainability and offer an example of transparency and accountability.

Sustainability graphic on Performance.gov
Performance.gov: The Purpose

The site aims to promote alignment with goals of cutting waste, through accountability and transparency. Much of the data is not new, but is consolidated for simplified review. Performance.gov, according to its About section, has the purpose of compiling data in a central location to promote actionable change:

“Performance.gov is a central website that provides a window on the Administration’s efforts to deliver a more effective, smarter, and leaner government. The site gives the public, government agencies, Members of Congress, the media, and others a view of the progress underway in cutting waste, streamlining government, and improving performance.”

Additional Resources
  

Online Tool Grades Feds On Efficiency (InformationWeek)
Performance.gov (finally) launches (OhMyGov)

Stay Tuned
  
This post is the first in a three-part series exploring how performance.gov seeks to assess federal agency sustainability. You can read the second installment that relates to what criteria has been used to make the assessment here.  And you can find the third installment, that looks at how the federal agencies scored here.

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