Guidance for DAP Gov-Wide Data

On August 17th, Steve VanRoekel, U.S. Chief Information Officer, sent a memo to the CIO Council that stated beginning Aug 29, 2014, access to all Digital Analytics Program (DAP) data government-wide will be rolled out to all participating DAP agency users. That means that DAP users will have access not only to their specific agency’s profile/view, but all of the participating agencies’ views, as well as the government-wide main roll-up profile.

As the memo stated, “opening the DAP government-wide data will let participating agencies see other agency’s public-facing website analytics, gain valuable knowledge about shared customers, benchmark against similar agencies, and, most importantly, engage in collaboration and exchange lessons learned.”

DAP Gov-Wide Access Usage Information

  • Will there be training on how to best leverage the gov-wide data under DAP?
    • Yes. We plan on hosting ongoing training for all DAP users to demonstrate how the government-wide reporting templates work, and discuss the authorization of government-wide data in general. Trainings are posted on DigitalGov.gov, DAP User Online Community on Yammer, and communicated to DAP users via the DAP listserv.
  • Can I talk publicly about other agencies’ data?
  • Can I use analytics data from other agencies’ websites to inform changes/modifications to my agency’s websites?
    • Yes. The goal of the DAP user access to the government-wide reporting is to allow everyone to use the data to create better and more engaging digital experiences for the public.
  • Based on data I see in the government-wide reporting, can I contact other agencies to partner or coordinate programs/online content?
    • Yes. We would love to see Web managers from multiple agencies communicating about content, design, strategy, and anything else the data can uncover.
  • Can we say things like “The #1 Visited Government Website” to boost our brand?
    • No. While we encourage all agencies to use the data to its fullest potential, currently, no information that isn’t specific to your agency should be discussed publicly; and even in that case, any public discussion of metrics is at each agency’s discretion.
  • How can I most efficiently use this data?
    • We hope to see agencies creating analyses that can track, for instance, where the public is going to search for information on a specific topic, and use it to streamline the overall website experience. Another example of the data use is to improve mobile capabilities of Web properties if the agency’s websites are lagging behind the government-wide trend in mobile usage. See the reporting templates below to get started.

Useful Templates for DAP Gov-Wide reporting

  1. Gov-wide Traffic by Website Report (summary-level report of traffic by website across DAP)
  2. Gov-wide Content Drill-down by Website Report (granular, content drill-down report by websites across DAP)
  3. Gov-only Visits Custom Segment (allows agencies to segment their website/agency visits by government vs. commercial networks to better understand their audience)
  4. Gov-wide 10 Common Web Metrics Dashboard (allows agencies to see gov-wide 10 common metrics across agencies)
  5. Gov-wide Mobile Traffic Trends Dashboard (allows agencies to see their agency’s mobile visits penetration and compare to gov-wide trends)
  6. Gov-wide Social Media Traffic Trends Dashboard (allows agencies to see their agency’s Social Media referred visits penetration and compare to gov-wide trends)
  7. Gov-wide Real Time Social Media Dashboard (allows agencies to see Social Media activity across agencies in real-time)

DAP Data Confidentiality

By logging in and accessing government-wide view of the Digital Analytics Program (DAP), you understand and agree that:

  • Access to the government-wide view of the Digital Analytics Program (DAP) is to assist participating agencies in improving websites across the government.
  • Access to this data is restricted to DAP users only.
  • Each participating agency controls the distribution and sharing of their own agency-specific data, at the discretion of the agency’s designated DAP POC.
  • Agencies are not authorized to communicate or share findings derived from the DAP government-wide view about another agency without the other agency’s explicit, written permission.
  • Agencies may not communicate or share any findings derived from the DAP government-wide view that pertain to the government-wide view as a whole.
  • For questions regarding these and other scenarios on the use of the DAP government-wide view, agencies should contact the Office of Management and Budget by emailing eGov@omb.eop.gov.

For more information, please see the memo to Agency CIOs (PDF, 361.7 KB, 2 pages) sent by U.S. CIO Steve Van Roekel.