Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont convened his first cabinet meeting this week, with a focus on data-driven government. Lamont wants to create a fully digital state government in Connecticut and has released a series of proposals toward that goal. Monday’s cabinet meeting started getting into the particulars.
Connecticut will deploy a new, cross-agency performance management system that the governor says, “will bring private-sector discipline and customer focus to the mission of government.”
Housed within the Office of Policy and Management (OPM) and managed in close collaboration with the Office of the Governor, the performance management system will introduce clear priorities and align agency efforts around: jobs and the economy, child and family success, transportation, and community vitality.
Governor Lamont’s agenda also includes streamlining the number of forms individuals and the government need to use to do business and putting many of them online. The governor wants to link data across agencies so that the best resources can be provided. For example, linking emergency room and corrections data to help shuttle people toward supportive housing, with the ultimate goal of helping them exit the system and return fully to society. The governor would also like to see greater alignment between childcare, housing and transportation supports with state workforce programs so families can overcome barriers and the state can reduce long-term subsidy.
Governor Lamont has appointed David Wilkinson as Chief Performance Officer to oversee the cross-agency initiative. He will report to the state’s Chief Operating Officer Paul Mounds and OPM Secretary Melissa McCaw, and also collaborate closely with Department of Administrative Services Commissioner Josh Geballe to help manage digital transformation throughout state government.
Wilkinson and Mounds are focused on reducing the redundancy in government as part of digital transformation.
Connecticut joins a growing group of states that are looking for ways to better share data and align services. To do so successfully, governments will have to build the technology infrastructure alongside a culture of collaboration, which can mean significant change management within government.
“We can go further and faster when we row together,” Mounds said. “By focusing on results and reducing redundancy, we better honor the work of our dedicated state workforce and ultimately, our residents’ taxpayer dollars.”
