March 10 through 16 marks Sunshine Week, a time which recognizes the importance of transparency in government. At the Department of FISCal (FI$Cal), transparency is one of the core values in our strategic plan, and is a priority for the department.
FI$Cal works to ensure accuracy, integrity and transparency to promote accountability and better decision-making using data from the FI$Cal system. There are several ways we engage with our partners, FI$Cal system end users, and the public to make sure we’re being transparent in our practices and using this feedback to inform important decision-making.
Open FI$Cal – FI$Cal’s transparency portal, Open FI$Cal, provides public access to state departments’ non-confidential expenditure data. FI$Cal releases data from the FI$Cal system to promote transparency, public engagement, innovation, and efficiency, empowering Californians to better understand the state’s business.
Customer Impact Committee (CIC) – The CIC serves as a formal mechanism for agencies and state entities to provide input to the FI$Cal executive team, and helps shape FI$Cal system enhancements, services and training. During bi-monthly meetings, FI$Cal partners and end users receive reports from working groups and FI$Cal staff, as well as updates on enhancements, trainings, reports and more. Participants also have the opportunity to ask questions and provide feedback.
Lessons Learned and Best Practices Forum – As a result of conversations during regular CIC meetings, the CIC implemented a “lessons learned and best practices” forum, where end users and departments can share lessons they’ve learned and efficiencies they’ve identified throughout FI$Cal implementation, as well as issues they may be facing or ideas they’d like to share. As a result of this forum, FI$Cal staff are actively providing assistance to the CIC to brainstorm solutions to cross-departmental challenges.
FI$Cal Tv – Each month, the Business Operation and Solutions Division at FI$Cal hosts an episode of FI$CalTv, a half hour program streamed via Microsoft Teams that connects end users with FI$Cal subject matters experts who share valuable tips, tricks and information about the FI$Cal system.
Publications and Reports – FI$Cal publishes documents outlining the work of the department on its website. Included in this is a series of fact sheets which share information such as a history of the FI$Cal project and our current milestones since project completion, support options provided by the department, an overview of information about the system, and functionality of the system. We also publish regular reports, including our annual status report to the legislature, which provides details on our significant achievements and milestones during the reporting period.