This paper will rely on evidence from literature, web research, and some anecdotal experience to demonstrate the value of performance measurement across public, private, and individual sectors. There is ample evidence of the importance of measuring performance. The balanced scorecard provided a framework for measuring performance that relates to internal stakeholders and has been adopted by numerous corporations. A similar framework for managing performance in the governmental sector has not been found that can express mission performance across the government functions. Likewise, personal performance management is challenging because it is difficult to associate an individual action with global impact. There is little statistical significance of individual data points until they are aggregated across society.
Emphasis in this paper is placed on illustrating the use of business intelligence tools in demonstrating government performance. There have been significant improvements in the past decade in both the quantity and quality of data provided to the public consumer by the federal government. Some of the major innovators in using business intelligence tools will be highlighted as these new sources of data provide a context and even a source of data that is most closely related to societal indicators.