GSA Blog

GSA Publishes First Learning Agenda, Evaluation Plan and Capacity Assessment to Support Evidence Based Policy Making across the Agency

In support of the new GSA Strategic Plan, GSA has developed an evaluation strategy to focus and align evidence-building activities over the coming years.

“This is an exciting new chapter at GSA and for evidence-based government more broadly,” said Kelly Bidwell Director, Office of Evaluation Sciences. “We are thrilled to work across GSA to build evidence in priority areas, answer pressing questions with rigorous methods and tackle the important topics outlined in GSA’s Learning Agenda and Evaluation plans with our colleagues.”

Three new documents summarize GSA’s strategy to advance evidence-based learning within the organization:

Learning Agenda
GSA’s first Learning Agenda sets a series of agency-wide learning targets in alignment with GSA’s strategic objectives and in collaboration with varied offices across GSA. Implementation of the Learning Agenda offers an opportunity to improve how GSA builds and uses evidence and better align performance, budget, strategic planning, policymaking, data and evidence-building activities.

FY23 Annual Evaluation Plan (AEP)
GSA’s Annual Evaluation Plan documents a set of priority evaluations for the next fiscal year that support the GSA Learning Agenda. The Plan Includes four priority evaluation topics on the following policy and operational areas:

• Real Estate Solutions:
  • What resources are most important for supporting employees and teams in a remote work environment?
  • What, if any, impact would increased reliance on flexible work policies have on the demand for federal real property?
• Acquisition: What acquisition program or policy changes can address and reduce administrative barriers for Federal suppliers, especially those that have a disproportionate impact on underserved communities?
• Government Operations: What programs or policies are effective at promoting greening of the fleet, including use of electric or other zero emission vehicles?

Capacity Assessment
GSA’s Capacity Assessment is a tool to assess and develop robust evidence-building capacity, in support of GSA’s activities, operations, and strategic priorities. GSA will use the findings of the assessment to develop the resources needed to build more robust evidence-building capacity in Fiscal Years 2022-2026.

Get Involved!
GSA’s evaluation strategy is intended to benefit the public, and we want your feedback on what issues are important. If you or your organization has feedback on GSA’s Learning Agenda or Annual Evaluation Plan, please visit us at Evidence and Evaluation or reach out to us at evaluation@gsa.gov.