RD45 - Council on Virginia's Future Annual Executive Summary - January 2014


Executive Summary:
The Council on Virginia’s Future, which is chaired by the Governor and includes state, business, and community leaders, was established in 2004 to advise Virginia’s leaders on the development and implementation of a long-range approach for assessing and improving the quality of life and the effectiveness of state government in Virginia. Virginia Performs, a signature initiative of the Council, is the Commonwealth’s performance leadership and accountability system ( http://www.VaPerforms.virginia.gov).

The Appendix (page 10) provides a brief introduction to the Council and Virginia Performs. More information is available on the Council’s website ( http://www.future.virginia.gov).

This report was prepared pursuant to § 2.2-2687 of the Code of Virginia, which requires the Council on Virginia’s Future to provide an executive summary of the activities and work of the Council annually to the Governor and the General Assembly. Included is a discussion of recent accomplishments related to the continued evolution of Virginia Performs and development of special issues. Some of highlights of recent progress include:

• Keeping Virginia Performs fresh and relevant remains a top priority. Regular enhancements and updates to citizen-facing data are made in collaboration with economists at the University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service. Two new societal indicators were developed in 2013: Multimodal Transportation and Innovation and Entrepreneurship (I&E). The I&E indicator will be released in January 2014.

• Agencies have completed the new agency Executive Progress Reports (EPR). These brief reports (4 to 5 pages) are concise and accessible summaries that more clearly communicate what an agency does, its performance, and the most important opportunities and issues facing the agency. The EPRs provide increased transparency and help introduce new leaders to state government.

• Recently developed Enterprise Strategic Priorities span agency and secretariat organizational boundaries and help guide agencies as they craft their strategic plans. A new technical platform for tracking these highest priorities of government is nearing completion.

• The Council, as part of the continued evolution of Virginia Performs, has begun a long-term effort to accelerate progress on key outcomes by developing more focused, issue-specific “report cards” based on the Virginia Performs Scorecard at a Glance model. The Council’s partnership with the Governor’s Office to develop a high-level report card for the Commonwealth’s workforce development system was the first such report card. Two new report cards, Innovation and Entrepreneurship and Government Operations, have been completed and will be added to the Virginia Performs website in January 2014.

• The Council continued its focus on the drivers of state and regional economic growth and collaborated with the Virginia Chamber of Commerce on its Blueprint Virginia initiative to develop a long-term plan to enhance economic competitiveness and growth across the Commonwealth.

• Along with the high-level initiatives described above, the Council continued to publish special reports, analyses, and other products that enhance our understanding of issues important to Virginia’s long-term future.