Belgium

Flanders 2020 Pact provides a framework for co-operation and the assessment of progress towards Flanders’ strategic priorities and Europe 2020. Through horizontal contractual arrangements at the sub-national level, the Pact emphasizes strategic co-operation as well as quantifiable targets and performance monitoring and assessment. Partners in the Pact include the Flemish government, the Social Economic Council of Flanders (representing key social and economic partners), and United Associations (an umbrella organization for civil society organisations).

Colombia

Colombia has implemented a new performance monitoring system for sub-national governments – called “Sinergia Territorial (a sub-component of the Sinergia programme, a performance-based budgeting instrument).  DNP manages the system since it is also responsible for the medium-term planning, programming, monitoring and evaluating public policies and programmes. The system allows the integration of information from different entities and sectors, with diverse indicators, clear guidelines and targets. So far, the technical support model of Territorial Sinergia has been implemented in 88 municipalities and 15 departments in the country.

Italy

Basilicata (Italy) has a Public Investment Evaluation Unit within the Department for Structural Funds responsible for monitoring and evaluating public investments in the region and for checking the consistency of strategic projects with the regional development plan and the annual financial plan. The unit also performs impact evaluations of public investment projects on employment and economic performance. Basilicata’s efforts are supported by the national Public Investment Evaluation Unit in the Ministry of Economic Development, which provides technical support. Regional data on public investments are gathered through a centralised System for Monitoring Public Investments that tracks basic information for each public investment project. The system has been used in five pilot regions since 2007.

Norway

Norway’s KOSTRA system is an electronic reporting system for municipalities and counties. It can publish input and output indicators on local public services and finances and provide online publication of municipal priorities, productivity and needs. KOSTRA integrates information from local government accounts, service statistics and population statistics. It includes indicators of production, service coverage, needs, quality and efficiency. The information is easily accessible via the Internet and facilitates detailed comparison of the performance of local governments. The information is frequently used by the local government themselves and by the media and researchers. Although individual local governments could use KOSTRA more efficiently (e.g. by systematic benchmarking), the system has helped facilitate comparisons of municipalities thereby promoting “bench-learning”.

Portugal

Increased emphasis is on strategic monitoring under the EU Structural Funds system and under the responsibility of NSRF Observatory. At the regional level regional dynamics observation centres are created to perform similar functions. An indicator system is being developed at the national and regional levels. The Composite Index of Regional Development, published in May 2009, aims to provide a tool for monitoring regional disparities on an annual basis. It is made up of 65 indicators divided into three components which reflect broader sustainable development concerns: competitiveness, cohesion and environmental quality.

United States

The US has developed the tool named “Pay for success”, which shifts the focus on outcomes by aligning financial incentives with actual success. This tool is currently experimented by cities like Boston or state like California.