The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) recently issued a memorandum titled Next Steps in the Evidence and Innovation Agenda. This memo stresses the application of existing evidence as paramount to creating a government that is more responsive to the needs of its citizens. This memo offers suggestions to help agencies advance their evidence and evaluation practices. These primary development tactics include harnessing data to improve agency results; instituting high-quality, low-cost evaluations and rapid experimentation; using innovative grant designs that emphasize outcomes; strengthening agency capacity to utilize evidence; and catering to other agency-specific needs. This memo also provides guidance for 2015 agency Budget submissions and invites agencies to participate in workshops and interagency collaborations that offer technical assistance in designing evaluations and improving tools and guidance in meeting government-wide requirements. OMB strives to obtain a more accountable government in which agencies can recuperate from the economic recession. Existing evidence and innovation play a key role in this process by illustrating new approaches to program delivery.
For more information:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/memoranda/2013/m-13-17.pdf