New trends in government.

• Position: News & Numbers - Brief article

Governments are being challenged to perform in different ways as the times change. A new report from the IBM Center for the Business of Government identifies six trends that are transforming government today.

* Trend One: Changing the Rules. Governments are increasingly discarding one-size-fits-all approaches and are permitting managers more flexibility to customize operating procedures and approaches to service delivery. At the same time, managers are being held to greater accountability for performance.

* Trend Two: Using Performance Management. The emphasis has moved from compliance to performance. Linking organizational goals to intended results leads to performance planning and reporting.

* Trend Three: Providing Competition, Choice, and Incentives. Worldwide trends reflect an increase in market-based approaches similar to the private sector, such as vouchers, shared services, and tradable permits.

* Trend Four: Performing On-Demand. Government is being pushed by citizens to be as responsive as private-sector services leading them to develop new capacities to...