New management and technology hub takes deep dive into state data

At a press event Tuesday in the Statehouse basement office that houses the new Management and Performance Hub Technology Center, Pence said the system has already helped him identify programs to eliminate.

Asked to identify them, his response was: “No, absolutely not.”

He said those decisions will be revealed when he unveils spending priorities for the next two years, when the Legislature starts to craft the next budget.

Some cuts are expected due to tax revenues that are lower than what was projected by state analysts at a time when Pence promised to maintain a $2 billion surplus.

Pence said data collected and analyzed through the new Management and Performance Hub is helping to identify programs that are redundant or not producing expected results. He touted the system — known by the acronym MPH – as a tool common in business but one rarely found in state or local government.

“Welcome to the future of state government, where Indiana will combine strong financial management with the speed of business,” he said.

State agencies already collect vast amounts of data but struggle to give real-time information to policymakers. Pence said requests he’s made for data have sometimes taken weeks or months to be fulfilled.

“Now, it may be a matter of minutes,” he said.

Pence has already gained national attention for the data initiative, which was funded in part by a $500,000 grant from the Lilly Endowment. Last month, The Washington Post reported on the administration’s use of data to analyze infant mortality. Indiana has one of the highest rates of infant death in the nation.

State health officials identified contributing factors, including obesity and smoking among pregnant mothers. Pence has asked his staff to take a deeper look into the issue by compiling and analyzing more data.

In July, the state signed a contract with a European software company, SAP, to use a data management system called HANA, which stands for High-Performance Analytic Appliance.

Pence said the same system could be used to study recidivism and determine what criminal justice programs the state should fund as its shifts more community-based corrections to local governments.

Pence has taken some heat for the technology hub. Newly renovated office space in the Statehouse basement and the equipment installed there cost close to $340,000; the state paid $2.5 million to SAP in upfront costs for the data software; and it will spend $550,000 annually for the software’s maintenance. The expenditures come at a time when other state agencies are forced to cut their budgets.

But Pence said no new taxpayer money is being used for the hub. The state is saving some money, for example, by ending a $35,000 annual lease on office space previously occupied by state technology staff.