Governor Carney Releases Government Efficiency and Accountability Review (GEAR) Board Report

WILMINGTON, Del. - Governor John Carney, on Monday, released the eighth annual report of the Government Efficiency and Accountability Review (GEAR) Board. Governor Carney established GEAR under Executive Order #4 in February 2017 to identify ways for state government to sustain its culture of continuous improvement. Specifically, GEAR aims to improve the quality, efficiency, and effectiveness of public services, while reducing costs.

"One of my first actions as Governor was to establish GEAR as an ongoing effort to contain government spending growth, improve the effectiveness of our service delivery, and better meet the needs of the citizens we serve," said Governor Carney. "Over the past eight years, GEAR has played a crucial role in saving money and promoting a culture of continuous improvement across state government. Delaware residents and businesses have seen the benefits of their hard work."

More than 100 practitioners from 23 state organizations are executing projects within a portfolio of 147 initiatives to improve efficiency. The savings from this work are estimated to total $101 million over the life of projects underway.

The report highlights key accomplishments and ongoing efforts across state government in 2024, including:

• Saving taxpayer dollars by restructuring leases, establishing a state land use inventory, streamlining the process of registering trade names, modernizing the client experience at State Service Centers, expanding broadband access across Delaware, enrolling more school libraries in the Delaware Library Catalog and Consortium, modernizing the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program with digital payments, optimizing long-term care delivery, and continuing to streamline financial, human resource, criminal justice, and information technology systems.
• Recognizing state employees who do this innovative and cost-saving work through the GEAR P3 Innovation and Efficiency and Trailblazer Award programs.
• Modernizing our public schools through EdGEAR, focusing on student enrollment, school finance, and unit count information systems.
• Recruiting and retaining professionals who specialize in this work by establishing job classifications for project managers, business process analysts, change management specialists, and specialists in continuous improvement.

The 2024 Annual Report also provides policy and budgetary recommendations aimed at continuing government efficiency and accountability initiatives.

"With more than 150 state employees engaging in training, practicing Lean philosophy methods, and working on projects as part of GEAR across Delaware Government - the Carney administration built a very strong foundation for driving greater efficiency and effectiveness, and sustaining a culture of continuous improvement", said the GEAR Program Management Team led by Charles Clark and Daniel Madrid, Executive Director and Deputy Director of GEAR respectively and Bryan Sullivan, OMB's Director of Management Efficiency. "Now we are poised to accelerate these efforts and achieve even greater measurable outcomes. GEAR looks forward to continuing these efforts with the guidance of a new Governor and his Cabinet, the Chief Justice, State Treasurer, Controller General and other members of the GEAR Board as the State strives to continue to support an adaptive, highly effective, and efficient Delaware State government for generations to come."

GEAR's accomplishments[Link] were recently included in Results for America's "2024 Invest in What Works State Standard of Excellence," a nationally recognized state benchmarking program.

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