A Workshop for Public Officials
Tuesday, September 16, 2003

CitiStat has given the city of Baltimore a powerful new management tool. By tracking "real time" data, the mayor and other city officials not only develop strategies for improving everyday performance in all departments, but also get a look at the broad patterns shaping the city. Can the CitiStat approach be brought to state and local government in Massachusetts?

On September 16, 2003, the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston and the National Center for Digital Government convened a group of interested public officials from state and local departments to hear about the CitiStat data-driven management tool for government agencies. Modeled after CompStat, the program that New York City developed to attack crime with daily tracking of criminal behavior and neighborhood conditions, CitiStat enables Mayor Martin O'Malley and department heads to look at tangible data about government performance in Baltimore. Deputy Mayor of Baltimore, Michael Enright and Director of the CitiStat program, Matthew Gallagher presented the CitiStat program to 100 state and local officials.

The morning session instructed representatives from the Department of Social Services, the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, Newton, Waltham, Cambridge, and Somerville how CitiStat works. Every day, Baltimore's departments gather data about city workers, housing, playgrounds, streets, railroad crossings, potholes, graffiti, utilities, snow plows and other vehicles, emergency fire calls, leaf collections, parking permits. Departments enter data into a simple computer program and every two weeks produce a 10- to 15-page report for the mayor's staff. The staff briefs the mayor on important trends, trouble spots, and continuing challenges. Department heads take turns on the "hot seat," as they answer questions about the maps, charts, and graphs prepared using the CitiStat software program. By taking a hard look at the data, public managers can focus on improving service delivery in areas where their departments fall short.

In its first eleven months of use, CitiStat has cost Baltimore $285,000 - including four fulltime staffers, computer equipment and software, and new furniture for the CitiStat room. Not counting improved service delivery, officials estimate savings of $13.2 million - $6 million in overtime, $5 million in reduced costs and increased revenues, and $1.2 million in reduced absenteeism.

The afternoon session was open to small teams from departments and communities who want to learn how to implement the solution in their offices. Kennedy School Professors Robert Behn and Jane Fountain assisted participants in focusing on how they can bring the CitiStat program home.