Interview Questions for Melissa Schigoda, Head of the Performance and Accountability Office in New Orleans
In the heart of Louisiana, New Orleans has embarked on an innovative journey towards data-driven decision-making, with the NOLAytics program leading the charge. This initiative empowers department heads to speak with numbers, improving departmental performance, and addressing sticky problems with targeted analytics projects.
At the helm of this transformation is Melissa Schigoda, the Director of the Office of Performance and Accountability. With a Ph.D. dissertation on the use of data for decision-making in complex adaptive systems, Schigoda has been instrumental in shaping the city's data-driven approach. After initially planning to work abroad in international development, Schigoda decided to stay in New Orleans to contribute to the city's recovery, particularly influenced by Hurricane Katrina during her senior year at Tulane.
The NOLAytics program partners with various city departments for analytics projects, tackling issues in areas like public safety and infrastructure. Schigoda emphasizes the importance of demonstrating quick wins and building momentum to secure buy-in for the program. She also advocates for the advancement of analytics, stating that it has made city department heads more open to performance management.
However, the implementation of such programs is not without its challenges. City department staff are often overextended, making it a challenge to carve out time for analytics projects. Data silos across different agencies make integration difficult, while data constraints persist in many areas, making it difficult to find or extract necessary data for projects.
Despite these challenges, the NOLAytics program has seen success. Leadership support from the Mayor's office and collaboration across city departments enable integrated data use for improving city functions. The use of advanced analytics tools to track performance metrics, coupled with a commitment to transparency, including public reporting dashboards, engages community stakeholders and keeps everyone informed. Partnerships with external analytics experts and universities further enhance data analysis capabilities.
Schigoda highlights the importance of building a data culture among city employees, stating that it can significantly increase a city's potential impact. This culture is evident in the NOLAytics program's public dashboard for key COVID-19 measures, keeping everyone informed about the city's trend during the pandemic.
In summary, success in cities like New Orleans hinges on leadership buy-in, cross-departmental data integration, transparency, skilled analysts, and sustained investment. Challenges involve cultural resistance, technical complexity, resource constraints, and ensuring data relevance to policy goals. Despite these challenges, the NOLAytics program continues to make strides in data-driven decision-making, setting a promising example for other cities to follow.
- Melissa Schigoda, the Director of the Office of Performance and Accountability, is driving the city's innovation towards a data-driven policy approach, leveraging data-and-cloud-computing technology and AI for analytics.
- The NOLAytics program, partnering with various city departments, aims to address complex issues in areas like public safety and infrastructure through data-driven analytics projects, emphasizing quick wins to secure buy-in.
- Schigoda advocates for a city-wide data culture, believing that it can significantly enhance the city's potential impact, as demonstrated by the program's public dashboard for key COVID-19 measures.
- Despite the challenges of data constraints, data silos, and overextended staff, the NOLAytics program has seen success, thanks to leadership support, transparency, and partnerships with external analytics experts and universities.
