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• Government Reform for Competition and Innovation Ideas

Ideas contributed by Community Member

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  Ideas to Make Other Parts of Government More Efficient and Effective »

  use decision support technology

  Decision support systems help guide decision makers to consider all aspects of the question at hand, help to remove politics from decisions (by masking the source of comments, etc.), and providing various voting mechanisms that reveal different prioritizations. Using such systems help to make the decision process more effective, less arbitrary, and more thorough, and the systems can also capture and record the process ...more »

  Decision support systems help guide decision makers to consider all aspects of the question at hand, help to remove politics from decisions (by masking the source of comments, etc.), and providing various voting mechanisms that reveal different prioritizations. Using such systems help to make the decision process more effective, less arbitrary, and more thorough, and the systems can also capture and record the process so that if the decision is revistied later, it is easier to reconstruct how we came to the decision we did.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Have meetings only when necessary, and run them effectively

  How much time is spent in "automatic" meetings (periodic, whether we need them or not) with little or no purpose, that go on way too long due to lack of a firm agenda?

  TOO MUCH!

  Just enforcing a culture of well-run meetings, held only when necessary, would elicit significant performance benefits.

  1 comment for Idea: Have meetings only when necessary, and run them effectively

  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Fully utilize computing resources

  In some government facilities, there are no mod or late shifts, yet computers are left on all night so that maintence can be done, software patches distributed, etc. If these computers are going to be on anyway, why not use distributed computing technology to actually make use of all those computers that are powered on, but mostly idle? If there are no government uses for the computing capability, rent it out to outside ...more »

  In some government facilities, there are no mod or late shifts, yet computers are left on all night so that maintence can be done, software patches distributed, etc. If these computers are going to be on anyway, why not use distributed computing technology to actually make use of all those computers that are powered on, but mostly idle? If there are no government uses for the computing capability, rent it out to outside users.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Increasing Trade, Exports, and Overall Competitiveness »

  Eliminate cash

  Go to a cell-phone and/or credit card based electronic payment economy. This would have several potential benefits. It would allow automated collection of a flat-rate consumption tax. It would complicate the transfer of funds for illegal activities, or hiding of income (other than barter). It would reduce the cost of producing, transporting, and circulating currency, coins, and paper checks. It would spur innovation on ...more »

  Go to a cell-phone and/or credit card based electronic payment economy. This would have several potential benefits.

  It would allow automated collection of a flat-rate consumption tax.

  It would complicate the transfer of funds for illegal activities, or hiding of income (other than barter).

  It would reduce the cost of producing, transporting, and circulating currency, coins, and paper checks.

  It would spur innovation on new business models enabled by the new technology.

  It would provide an evidence trail for civil/contractual legal actions.

  There would surely be privacy objections, and the impact of a system crash could be huge, but a discussion of the concept would be worthwhile, even if the idea were ultimately rejected.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  eliminate the stigma of stopping ineffective programs

  In many partrs of the government, leading a "successful" program is a path to career success, which sometimes creates an incentive for a program manager to defend their program to the bitter end, even if they know the program to be flawed, ineffective, or wasteful. By creating a culture where saying "This isn't working" is just as valued as being "successful", we can potentially save money. This should be tied to effort ...more »

  In many partrs of the government, leading a "successful" program is a path to career success, which sometimes creates an incentive for a program manager to defend their program to the bitter end, even if they know the program to be flawed, ineffective, or wasteful. By creating a culture where saying "This isn't working" is just as valued as being "successful", we can potentially save money.

  This should be tied to effort to make it both easier to start and fund efforts, and to shut them down. In the current procurement process, it's so hard to start and fund anything that once a program is up and running, it becomes at least partially focused on self-preservation, not on optimal performance, because the cost of "starting over" is so high in both time and schedule delay.

  Killing ineffective programs should not also kill one's career.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Modernize air traffic control to allow direct routing

  Our current air traffic system relies on controlling traffic through tightly specified standard routes. Modern technology such as GPS allows more precise tracking of the location of every aircraft. Combined with protocols for aircraft to autonamously locate, identify and negotiate with other aircraft in the area such technology could greatly reduce our reliance on radar and air traffic controllers, or at very least augment ...more »

  Our current air traffic system relies on controlling traffic through tightly specified standard routes. Modern technology such as GPS allows more precise tracking of the location of every aircraft. Combined with protocols for aircraft to autonamously locate, identify and negotiate with other aircraft in the area such technology could greatly reduce our reliance on radar and air traffic controllers, or at very least augment the and improve the existing systems and processes.

  This could make it possible to allow more direct routing of flights, with limitations only on overflight of certain restricted areas. Modernizing air traffic control could thus reduce fuel use by aviation, reduce travel time, spur competition, increase safety, and possibly reduce air traffic control costs.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Data Mine this site

  It's easy to say that we should implement the top N ideas from this site, or involve the top N contributors, but it's not a given that the most popular posts will contain the most feasible ideas, or the ones that will yield the best svings or greatest benefits. Other ways to mine the data: Check for top keywords - if lots of people have suggestions to make XYZ better, maybe it's because XYZ is non-optimal Check for ...more »

  It's easy to say that we should implement the top N ideas from this site, or involve the top N contributors, but it's not a given that the most popular posts will contain the most feasible ideas, or the ones that will yield the best svings or greatest benefits.

  Other ways to mine the data:

  Check for top keywords - if lots of people have suggestions to make XYZ better, maybe it's because XYZ is non-optimal

  Check for specificity - the more specific and low-level the suggestion, the more likely that it was posted by somebody with direct experience, who may have given the issue a great deal of thought.

  Check for duplication - some good ideas will have common themes or get posted in multiple forms, but not have any single post bubble to the top of the lists.

  Check for number of comments - it's easy to post an "agree", but takes more effort to post a comment. Comments may indicate that the original post is incorrect or flawed, but the comment may also contain refinement on a good idea.

  Check for unanimity or negation - in posts on a particular topic, see if the posts are unanimous or if they counter-balance each other. If everybody says "cut XYZ", that may be more significant than if half say to cut XYZ and half say to increase funding to XYZ.

  There will be many other possibilities - go deeper into the data, and don't stop at the overly simplistic "most popular" or "most comments" level of analysis.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Explore eliminating the Postal Service

  The intent of the Postal Service was to provide service to every location, however remote, on the assumption that market forces would not suffice. In the time since the establishment of the USPS, times, technology, and our society have changed greatly. It is not a given that the original assumptions that drove the creation of the USPS still hold. We need to re-examine the assumptions, and consider other alternatives. ...more »

  The intent of the Postal Service was to provide service to every location, however remote, on the assumption that market forces would not suffice. In the time since the establishment of the USPS, times, technology, and our society have changed greatly. It is not a given that the original assumptions that drove the creation of the USPS still hold.

  We need to re-examine the assumptions, and consider other alternatives. For example, could the services now provided by the Postal Service be set out to bid by FedEX, UPS, etc. for fixed period contracts for a given area?

  I'm not suggesting that eliminating the Postal Service is the right answer, merely that we go back and re-examine the purpose it serves, and do a zero-base review of all possible methods of providing those capabilities, to determine if the continued existence of the USPS is the optimal means to achieve the desired ends. In the process, we also need to take into account the intangible benefits, such as the function of the Post Office as a de facto social and community hub in small towns and remote locations.

  Great care should be taken, however, because if the assets and workforce of the USPS are dispersed and disposed of, it would be very difficult and costly to re-constitute that capability if we got it wrong.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Increasing Trade, Exports, and Overall Competitiveness »

  Stop or discontinue patents on software and algorithms

  Patents should protect innovation in implementation, not ideas. If a single idea or concept can be implemented in multiple ways, it should not be patentable.

  Existing software or algorithm patents should be allowed to expire, with no new ones issued.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Shorten copyright period

  The protection period for copyright has been consistently and repeatedly extended, coincidentally (or not) every time the copyright on the character of Mickey Mouse has been about to pass into the public domain. While protection of intellectual property is important, the duration of copyright is now out of balance with the protection for patents, and with the public good. Copyright and patents should serve to spur innovation, ...more »

  The protection period for copyright has been consistently and repeatedly extended, coincidentally (or not) every time the copyright on the character of Mickey Mouse has been about to pass into the public domain. While protection of intellectual property is important, the duration of copyright is now out of balance with the protection for patents, and with the public good. Copyright and patents should serve to spur innovation, not to provide a perpetual endowment to the holder.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Use Engineering/Science approach to planning

  Require each activity undertaken by any government agency to have a clear statement of purpose, including a description of what the activity is meant to accomplish, how the proposed course of action will address the need, and a means to measure whether or not the activity has worked as anticipated. Then after a given period of time, review each activity to see if it is, in fact, working as anticipated, and adjust or cease ...more »

  Require each activity undertaken by any government agency to have a clear statement of purpose, including a description of what the activity is meant to accomplish, how the proposed course of action will address the need, and a means to measure whether or not the activity has worked as anticipated. Then after a given period of time, review each activity to see if it is, in fact, working as anticipated, and adjust or cease the activity as necessary.

  We do too many things on the basis of vigorous assertion that things will work the way we anticipate because we say so.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Standardize Health Insurance claims processes

  Work with the health care insurance industry and health care providers to standardize the codes, formats, processes and systems used to process health insurance claims. Let the insurance companies and the health care providers compete on price and service, but reduce the need for health care providers to be experts on a different complex process for dealing with each of the many health insurance companies. Single payer ...more »

  Work with the health care insurance industry and health care providers to standardize the codes, formats, processes and systems used to process health insurance claims. Let the insurance companies and the health care providers compete on price and service, but reduce the need for health care providers to be experts on a different complex process for dealing with each of the many health insurance companies. Single payer might not be necessary, but a single payment process could be a significant cost savings.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Make redistricting automatic and impartial

  Currently, redistricting is controlled by state legislatures, and is usually a partisan process leading to gerrymandering and a large majority of seats in Congress being "safe" for one of the two major parties. By going to an automated census-based system, gerrymandering could be reduced, more seats would in theory be competitive, and the major parties would be required to focus more on creating better ideas and/or outcomes ...more »

  Currently, redistricting is controlled by state legislatures, and is usually a partisan process leading to gerrymandering and a large majority of seats in Congress being "safe" for one of the two major parties. By going to an automated census-based system, gerrymandering could be reduced, more seats would in theory be competitive, and the major parties would be required to focus more on creating better ideas and/or outcomes to win votes.

  This would lead to a ripple effect to every part of government under control of the legislative branch.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Make performance evaluation/rewards contractual

  Allow government employees the option of either the existing system of job security and unpredictable performance appraisal, or a higher-risk, higher reward contractual option, where a short term (1-3 years) contract would be established with guaranteed bonuses and/or penalties, depending on performance goals met or unmet. Even "pay for performance" proved to be very political and subject to manipulation, thus making ...more »

  Allow government employees the option of either the existing system of job security and unpredictable performance appraisal, or a higher-risk, higher reward contractual option, where a short term (1-3 years) contract would be established with guaranteed bonuses and/or penalties, depending on performance goals met or unmet.

  Even "pay for performance" proved to be very political and subject to manipulation, thus making it unclear if the effort spent to meet lofty goals would ever be rewarded. By going to an enforceable contractual basis (with option to renew), both sides have a clearer view in advance of exactly what the rewards will be if the stated terms and conditions of performance are met.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Use E-Prime in government documents where possible

  E-Prime is a version of English that eliminates all forms of "to be". This has the side effect of assigning attribution. One can't say "That bill is bad", one can only say "I dislike that bill", thus making clear whose opinion or direction is being expressed.

  No more "mistakes were made" - we'd be forced to identify WHO made the mistake or expresse the opinion, or directed the action.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Allow consumers of government services to rate providers

  In any government entity that provides services to the public or other government entities, provide some form of "reputation" or "rating" system to provide feedback on how we're doing - both individually and collectively. While many government entities have some form of this in place, making it a consistent system across government would improve the user-friendliness (one consistent interface), and have the side benefit ...more »

  In any government entity that provides services to the public or other government entities, provide some form of "reputation" or "rating" system to provide feedback on how we're doing - both individually and collectively. While many government entities have some form of this in place, making it a consistent system across government would improve the user-friendliness (one consistent interface), and have the side benefit of allowing individual employees to retain their rating trail across multiple jobs in government, with some notation of which past ratings were received in which jobs or roles.

  Such a feedback mechanism would allow us to identify problem areas in our processes and services, and to idnetify both outstanding employees and those who need assistance in improving their performance.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Mandatory government service

  Not a military draft, but a universal government service requirement - no exceptions. If you can't serve in the military, you can serve locally in some way. This would have the benefit of giving all citizens tangible experience of ownership and participation in their government, and reduce the bifurcation between "the government", "the military" and "the rest of us". Within a generation, the government would no longer ...more »

  Not a military draft, but a universal government service requirement - no exceptions. If you can't serve in the military, you can serve locally in some way. This would have the benefit of giving all citizens tangible experience of ownership and participation in their government, and reduce the bifurcation between

  "the government", "the military" and "the rest of us". Within a generation, the government would no longer bbe "them", but "us". The constant flood of new ideas would also help.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Share the savings on travel

  Keep governement per diem rates and government fare contracts, but allow the government traveller to opt to go "at risk". If they choose to book a non-government fare, they would be responsible for the cost of changes, etc., but could keep some percentage of the savings. Similarly, if the traveller finds lodging for less than per diem, allow them to keep some percentage of the savings. This gives the traveller an incentive ...more »

  Keep governement per diem rates and government fare contracts, but allow the government traveller to opt to go "at risk". If they choose to book a non-government fare, they would be responsible for the cost of changes, etc., but could keep some percentage of the savings. Similarly, if the traveller finds lodging for less than per diem, allow them to keep some percentage of the savings.

  This gives the traveller an incentive to seek out savings, while still preserving the certainty of government rates and fares in markets where that is truly an issue.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  "Data Mine" the Patent Office

  Many ideas that have been patented in the past were not marketable or produceable at the time due to limitations in technology, materials, computational capacity and so forth at the time. At least some of those ideas would now be feasible, thanks to improvements in technology. We could create a service to help identify such ideas, or encourage/assist the private sector in doing so. This would benefit the inventors, ...more »

  Many ideas that have been patented in the past were not marketable or produceable at the time due to limitations in technology, materials, computational capacity and so forth at the time. At least some of those ideas would now be feasible, thanks to improvements in technology.

  We could create a service to help identify such ideas, or encourage/assist the private sector in doing so. This would benefit the inventors, the industries that use the "revived" ideas, and possibly create all manner of new products.

  This might require altering the terms of our patent law to make the effort worthwhile. For example, which is more beneficial - reviving a lapsed patent, or creating a means for the original inventor to go back and revive the patent in light of advances in technology? Which creates more incentive to productization, and future innovation? How do we best balance the interests of the inventor and the common good?

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Consider long-term results for promotion

  Many governement performance evaluations focus on the near-term, with little or no consideration of long term outcomes. If one changes offices or changes jobs, the slate is metaphorically wiped clean. This encourages a focus on near-term and localized optimization (get what one can, then move on), rather than focus on long-term benefits and "big picture" optimization - the "greater good". I propose that the long-term ...more »

  Many governement performance evaluations focus on the near-term, with little or no consideration of long term outcomes. If one changes offices or changes jobs, the slate is metaphorically wiped clean. This encourages a focus on near-term and localized optimization (get what one can, then move on), rather than focus on long-term benefits and "big picture" optimization - the "greater good". I propose that the long-term results of one's decisions and actions be taken into more account in performance evaluation and promotion/reward decisions, to create more "enlightened self-interest" in better decisions, less "turf defending" behavior, etc.

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