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Government & Public Sector terms
Data in government: evaluation, public money, open data, cities, safety, emergencies and defense.
Administrative data Records collected by government agencies for operational purposes, later reused for research, statistics, or evaluation. Cost-benefit analysis (CBA) Comparing a policy or project's monetized benefits against its costs to judge whether it is worth doing. Impact evaluation Measuring a program's causal effect on outcomes by comparing what happened to a credible counterfactual. Logic model A diagram mapping how a program's resources and activities are expected to lead to short- and long-term outcomes. Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) The ongoing tracking of a program's activities plus periodic assessment of whether it achieved its intended outcomes. Performance budgeting Allocating public funds based on measured program outcomes and performance targets rather than prior spending levels. Performance management in government Setting measurable goals for public agencies and tracking results against them to guide budgeting and accountability. Program evaluation Systematic assessment of whether a public or nonprofit program achieves its intended outcomes, and why. Randomized controlled trial (RCT) An experiment that randomly assigns subjects to treatment and control groups to isolate a causal effect. Recidivism rate The share of people released from incarceration or supervision who reoffend or are rearrested within a set period. Record linkage Matching records that refer to the same person or entity across datasets that lack a shared unique identifier. Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicators The official metrics the United Nations uses to track country-level progress toward the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Budget variance (government) The difference between a government agency's budgeted and actual spending or revenue over a reporting period. Fiscal transparency The degree to which a government publicly discloses how it raises, spends, and manages public money. Participatory budgeting (PB) A process where community members directly decide how to spend a defined portion of a public budget. Procurement analytics (government) Analyzing public purchasing data to control spend, detect irregularities, and evaluate vendor and contract performance. Civic tech Technology built to improve how citizens interact with government and participate in public decisions. Data standards Agreed formats, fields, and definitions that let datasets from different agencies or systems be combined reliably. Open data Government or institutional data published in reusable formats, free for anyone to access, use, and redistribute. Open data portal A public website where a government publishes machine-readable datasets for citizens, researchers, and developers to reuse. Land-use modeling Simulating how a region's land will be developed or change use over time, based on zoning, transport, and economic factors. Origin-destination (O-D) data Records of where trips start and end, used to understand travel demand across a transportation network. Smart city sensor data Real-time readings from networked devices, such as traffic counters and air-quality monitors, across urban infrastructure. Traffic flow analysis Measuring vehicle volume, speed, and density on a road network to identify congestion and evaluate interventions. Urban heat island (UHI) The tendency of built-up urban areas to be significantly warmer than surrounding rural land, mainly from surfaces and structures. Clearance rate The share of reported crimes that end in an arrest or are otherwise resolved by law enforcement within a period. Crime mapping Plotting reported crime incidents geographically to reveal spatial patterns and support resource deployment decisions. Crime rate The number of reported crimes in an area relative to its population, usually expressed per 100,000 residents. Hotspot analysis Statistical method for finding geographic clusters where an event, such as crime or disease, occurs more than chance predicts. Predictive policing Using historical crime data and statistical models to forecast where or by whom future crime is likely, to guide patrols. Risk assessment instrument (RAI) A statistical tool that scores a person's likelihood of reoffending or failing to appear, used in bail, sentencing, or parole. Damage assessment Systematically estimating the scope and severity of destruction after a disaster to guide response and recovery funding. Early warning system (EWS) A monitoring and alerting system that detects a developing hazard and issues warnings before it strikes a population. Emergency resource allocation Deciding where to deploy limited personnel, equipment, and supplies during a disaster response, based on need and access. Evacuation modeling Simulating how a population will move out of a hazard area to plan routes, timing, and capacity before a disaster hits. Situational awareness Real-time understanding of what is happening in an operational environment, built from current data for fast decisions. All-source analysis Combining intelligence from multiple collection disciplines into one assessment instead of relying on a single stream. Geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) Intelligence built from imagery, mapping, and geographic data to describe and assess activity tied to a place. Open-source intelligence (OSINT) Intelligence produced from publicly available information — social media, news, public records — rather than classified sources. Pattern-of-life analysis Studying the routine movements and behavior of a person, vehicle, or location over time to detect meaningful deviations.