BCStat: A Sustainable Approach to “CollaborationStat”

Abstract

Baltimore City’s CitiStat, a performance management program designed to increase productivity by requiring key indicators on a regular basis, quickly became a highly lauded model that was replicated by other governments around the world but that has had its own sustainability questioned. Based on lessons learned from the CitiStat experience, Baltimore County’s BCStat program has taken a “three pronged approach” to maximize program benefits and to address the sustainability challenges faced by CitiStat. Specificially, BCStat is focused on collaborative, cross-departmental priorities; the Stat team provides data and consulting support; and data literacy has become infused across all county departments, including programmatic assistance.