Reporting on performance across the government sector has traditionally been an internal process of providing static indicator reports of current state against baselines and targets to senior managers and elected officials. In parallel, there has been an external process of providing reports and data to a central government agency and an auditing body. Content of performance reports has often been driven by the reporting specifications of the central agency – as such the content and style of reports reflects the needs of this audience but rarely those of others.
However in recent years the situation is changing fast. There are increasing pressures on government bodies worldwide to demonstrate the effective use of public resources. There has been a widespread emergence of performance and results-based management approaches with renewed emphasis on results-oriented business planning, accountability and performance reporting. Agencies are now seeing the benefits of implementing these performance management practices.
How have these developments impacted on performance reporting? Internal reporting is becoming more sophisticated with the use of hierarchical scorecards to present a balanced view of performance tailored to different stakeholders. Visual markers and traffic-light colouring are often used to highlight underachievement and exceptions. Externally, public agencies are being actively encouraged to make their performance reports available to a wider citizen community. There are many challenges to this process not least how to present information to users in a way that is engaging, relevant, understandable and useful in the context of expectations that are rapidly becoming more sophisticated.
The context within UK government is covered in more detail at the following page, please visit for further details > Peformance Reporting and Mapping
Wednesday, 06 May 2009
In this post we preview the first templates created with the new InstantAtlas V6 Single Map template, the first V6 template to be released. These include atlases created by the Pan American Health Organization and the Ministry of Health, Chile on the spread of Swineflu H1N1.
The West Midlands Regional Observatory have also been doing work with InstantAtlas V6. We showcase two of their new applications, one looking at the cultural economy of the region, the other at excess winter deaths. The latter presents work completed in partnership with Sandwell Primary Care Trust.
The month's Spotlight is cast on Performance Reporting and Analysis. We have selected three recent client examples using InstantAtlas present performance reports on key indicators and trends. In conjunction with this focus we are launching a new Resource Pack around Performance Reporting and Mapping of key indicators.
Finally we take a look at a new set of Data & Report Packs to support UK customers of InstantAtlas Server delivering a Local Information System or Data Observatory. These packs reflect interest from customers in streamlining data management tasks.
Featured Application
WMRO | New InstantAtlas Reports
West Midlands Regional Observatory
"InstantAtlas enables us to present data geographically in interactive maps to make it more accessible to our users. It helps to compare and contrast different areas within the region to determine which issues are affecting those areas the most. In particular, we have found InstantAtlas to be a useful tool in helping us to highlight key regional issues and challenges emerging from our State of the Region work, which is publicly available via our website. Other regional partners have also found the tool to be very useful. We are now starting to use Version 6 of InstantAtlas which offers some significant enhancements in areas like performance (we can now display LSOA level data for the whole region) and usability."
Naomi Winchurch, Researcher WMRO
Cultural Economy Atlas
Based on NEW V6 Single Map Template
Sandwell Primary Care Trust and the West Midlands Public Health Observatory (WMPHO) have jointly been addressing the area of excess winter deaths to inform the reducing excess winter deaths programme, an NHS West Midlands Investing for Health project. WMPHO provided the data on excess winter deaths.
The Investing for Health project also examines the relationship between excess winter deaths and fuel poverty. We helped to share this information by presenting data on excess winter deaths and the fuel poverty indicator through interactive maps. You can use the maps to view the data geographically.
View the atlases:
Excess winter deaths index and number of excess winter deaths PCT | Local Authority
Fuel poverty indicator at LSOA
Based on NEW V6 Single Map Template
Swineflu H1N1 | Outbreak Maps
Swine flu H1N1 Atlases
Following the latest pandemic outbreak of H1N1 flu from Mexico and into North America, organizations have been keen to harness InstantAtlas to get the outbreak data out quickly around the world to agency and public audiences. Some of the examples on the special presentation page make use of our new InstantAtlas Version 6 Single Map template.
Client Spotlight | Performance Reporting examples
NHS Community Health Profiles
The Association of Public Health Observatories was commissioned by the Department of Health in 2005 to produce Health Profiles. Health Profiles provide a snapshot of health for each local council in England using key health indicators, which enables comparison locally, regionally and over time.
Norfolk Performance Scorecard
This Instant Atlas report was created to demonstrate how you can present and track a defined set of Performance Indicators (PIs) at a small area (Ward) level. It is an example of an interactive dashboard or scorecard. Two areas can be compared to review current state against target. It can be used to present performance at a much more localised level to enable communities to understand priorities and, potentially, get involved in setting targets.
Yorkshire Futures: Monitoring Progress in the Region
This report was developed to complement the annual Progress in the Region report created by the Regional Observatory. It provides an interactive picture to explore inter- and intra-regional performance patterns and trends.
InstantAtlas Resource Packs
NEW - Performance Reporting and Mapping
The value of utilising geography in performance management and reporting is becoming widely recognised. Incorporating geography into performance allows you to:-
1. Understand geographic levels of variation and inequality particularly where there are targets to 'narrow the gap';
2. Rapidly benchmark areas of interest with geographic and statistical neighbors;
3. Identify 'problem hotspots' and target policy and practical interventions more effectively;
4. Make performance reports more relevant and useful to area-based managers and elected officials by delivering performance profile reports using their own geographies; and
5. Meet the rising expectations of your citizen audience by making reports more personalised and useful to citizens.
Classroom Training in InstantAtlas
Due to high demand from our customers InstantAtlas are now offering a new and comprehensive classroom based training package. These will be more cost-effective than on-site training. IA Classroom training courses are hosted in our Edinburgh office.
For further details please contact Sophie Lloyd
Latest Product News
InstantAtlas V6 | NEW Single Map Template
The new 6.0 version of the Single Map Template is now available.
This new release delivers significant improvements in performance, presentation, style and functionality. V6 is written to take advantage of Adobe's Flex technology for developing Rich Internet Applications (or RIAs).
To find out more about V6 and when the other V6 templates will be available please contact support.
InstantAtlas Server | NEW Data and Report Packs
CLICK TO VIEW PACK OVERVIEW PDF
OCSI (www.ocsi.co.uk) We are launching a set of Data and Report Packs in partnership with OCSI to support nationally published statistical data, in response to interest from customers in streamlining data management tasks.
With nationally published data - we are (1) adding intelligence to the data through creation of rates, ranks and suitable comparators; (2) enhancing supplier metadata where necessary; and (3) most significantly we are including a range of outputs (Profile Reports and Data Views) built by OCSI which you can then customise if you wish.
Further details of these new Data and Report Packs are available in our Pack Overview (see left to download). Detailed specifications of the packs are available on request - contact John at john.maslen@geowise.co.uk.
Seminars & Conferences
Where to see InstantAtlas
BURISA 2009 Annual Conference
"Location, location, location - Whither Geographical Information"
14th May 2009 - Royal Society, 6-9 Carlton House Terrace, London, UK
This year's BURISA Conference is the ideal opportunity to catch up with progress and issues in geographical information, demystify the jargon and look ahead to future developments.
URISA's Second GIS in Public Health Conference
June 5-8, 2009 - Providence, Rhode Island, US
The Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA) is hosting the second specialty conference to explore the many uses of GIS for public health access, processes, and decision-making. – Click here for Further details of the Conference
North American Association of Central Cancer Registries (NAACCR)
2009 Annual Conference - June 13-19, 2009 San Diego, California, US
This year's conference, "Charting the Course to a New World in Cancer Surveillance" will highlight new directions in cancer surveillance with current and future technologies in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, as well as innovations in bioinformatics and genetics as these impact the cancer data collection
InstantAtlas will be demonstrated at these conferences, if you wish to be given a demo at the event email us at marketing@geowise.co.uk
