New Annual Innovation and Efficiencies Report Offers Up-to-date Information and Cost Savings

PROBLEM

The annual UDOT Innovation and Efficiency Report is typically printed early in the calendar year and reports all innovations from the prior year.

This publication is expensive and time consuming to produce. While it has been appreciated for years, it is a thick report that is at best scanned by most readers and does not get into the hands of everyone that could benefit from it. Readers have to wait until the end of the year for the report, and miss opportunities to learn from and adopt innovations as they are implemented throughout the year.

The printed report is an impressive collection of innovations, but executive leadership asked for a more focused report that showcases UDOT’s greatest accomplishments and efficiencies.

CHANGE

Beginning in 2023 the I&E Report was divided into two publications. The “full” report is electronic and found in the new Innovation Catalog. It contains all innovations as they are posted to the new innovation system and generates a running total of cost and labor savings.

The “highlights” report contains the most significant and impressive innovations and efficiencies of the prior year. As before, it is printed before the legislative session, but it is much shorter and focuses on innovations and projects that produce the greatest efficiencies.

Because it is very difficult to quantify all benefits of an innovation, impact scales were also introduced. These gauges indicate both the innovation’s quantitative and qualitative contributions to Better Mobility, Good Health, Connected Communities and a Strong Economy. Impact scores are included on the bottom of each Innovation page as well as in the Impact Dashboard.

RESULT

The old I&E Report took two employees and a couple contractors three months to compile, edit, layout and print. The new approach publishes innovations as they are received. Toward the end of the year, select innovations are edited for inclusion in the highlights report. This process is much more efficient because only those stories that will appear in the printed report are put through the in-depth and costly editing process.

The new printed I&E Highlights Report is more impactful because it is focused on stories that are important to executive leaders and their stakeholders. It helps leaders more easily tell UDOT’s story and garner credibility, trust and support.

The new electronic Efficiencies Report is always up-to-date and shows efficiency numbers throughout the year. In its electronic format it is available to anyone with an internet connection. It can also be filtered to show just the innovations that interest a particular user or audience.

The introduction of quality of life impact scores allows UDOT to tell a more complete story of an innovation’s value because the Impact Dashboard reflects hard to quantify benefits, whereas our Efficiencies Report only lists documented, measurable cost and labor savings.