Cabinet Link was built for American Samoa's Governor's Office to answer these questions about its departments. They apply equally to MPE and the SOEs.

We do not know the Ministry's current process in detail.

We ask MPE for a baseline: how many SOE reports are on time today.

We also ask how long the Minister's briefing takes to prepare.

How do separate SOE updates become one briefing?

Every SOE writes in the same seven sections, and the system merges them into one executive summary.

Which SOEs have reported, and which are late?

The send time of every report is recorded, so the on-time record builds up with no extra work.

Which items need the Minister's decision?

SOEs mark items for decision, and these appear first on the Minister's dashboard.

Is each SOE improving on its own measures?

SOEs report agreed metrics each period, and the system charts them over time.

Enterprises page, administrator view

Nine of the 12 demo SOEs, each with a code and approval mode. SOE names are real; people, reports and figures are fictitious.

SOE coordinator

Drafts the report and its metrics each period, then passes it to the CEO.

SOE CEO and Deputy CEO

Approve and send the report to the Ministry. Each SOE chooses CEO only, or CEO or Deputy.

Ministry reviewer

Reviews each report, comments, flags items for the Minister and can return it for revision.

Minister

Reads the dashboard and the combined briefing, and can send questions to SOEs.

Other Ministry roles

The software also has MPE Chief Executive, Executive Assistant and Associate Minister roles. We set up only those you want.

01

The coordinator drafts the report

Seven fixed sections, each with up to five entries of at most 500 characters. Performance metrics are added with a label, value, unit and a short explanation.

02

The CEO checks the draft

The coordinator passes the draft to the CEO, who can edit it or return it to the coordinator with a comment.

03

The CEO approves and sends it in one step

Approving the report sends it to the Ministry. This is possible from Wednesday of week 2, and the deadline is 5 pm on Friday. Where the SOE allows it, the Deputy CEO can do this instead.

04

The Ministry reviews it

The reviewer sets a review status, adds comments and flags entries for the Minister. The reviewer can also return the report to the SOE for revision.

05

The Minister reads the briefing

Each submitted report appears straight away on the Minister's dashboard, in the combined executive summary and in the monthly view.

Reminders go to the CEO, Deputy CEO and coordinator. Times run on Pago Pago time (UTC-11) until we move them to Apia.

Writing the report

Seven fixed sections, each with up to five entries of up to 500 characters. New reports start as Ministry only.

Metrics and the Ministry review

Each report carries metrics with a value, unit and note. Below them the reviewer records a review status and comments.

Sample data; figures are illustrative.

01

Open the review dashboard

Counts for the period, the queue of reports waiting for review, and each SOE's status, including those that have not started.

02

Set a review status

Pending, no action needed, action required, or for the Minister's attention. The reviewer can also add comments.

03

Flag entries for the Minister

The reviewer flags single entries and chooses who sees them: the Minister, the MPE Chief Executive or all senior offices.

04

Return a report or ask a question

A report can go back to the SOE for revision, and the SOE team is emailed. The Minister or a reviewer can send questions to SOEs.

Submission status panel

4 of 12 submitted; the rest are returned, awaiting approval, in draft or not started (Missing). 8 SOEs shown. Sample data; figures are illustrative.

Executive summary

Every submitted report merged by section, each entry tagged with its SOE code. Sample data; figures are illustrative.

Decisions first

The Minister's dashboard opens with the items SOEs raised for decision.

The period at a glance

Counts of reports submitted, items for decision and active concerns sit above the decisions.

One SOE or a range of periods

The summary filters by SOE and by one period or a range of periods.

Printed for meetings

A print button gives a paper copy of the briefing.

Directory and archive

A contact directory and an archive of past reports sit on the same menu.

Performance Trends, submission compliance

Reports by period, then each SOE's record: blue on time, orange late, red missed, grey window open. Sample data; figures are illustrative.

Measured from the send time

On time means the CEO sent the report by Friday 5 pm. Nobody keys in a score.

Returned reports count again

A report the Ministry returns counts from when it is re-sent, so it can become late. We agree this rule at setup.

The last 13 periods, plus a monthly view

The monthly view gives each SOE's submission rate for the month: reports sent out of reports due.

Ministry roles only

Senior Ministry roles and administrators can open this page; the Executive Assistant cannot. SOEs do not see it.

01

SOEs report the same metrics each period

A trend lines up only when the metric name is the same every period, so we agree the names with each SOE at setup.

02

Two metrics are charted per SOE

The first two numeric metrics an SOE reports in two or more periods. The first is its headline indicator.

03

A fixed word list sets the direction

Names containing arrears, backlog, outage, wait, dwell, non-revenue or complaints received count a fall as better. All others count a rise as better.

04

Gaps stay visible

A dashed line marks a period with no value for that metric.

One SOE's two trend lines

The backlog falls, so its change shows green. Dashed segments mark periods with no value. Sample data; figures are illustrative.

Every measure comes from what SOEs already submit. Targets and the baseline are agreed with the Ministry, not set by us.

Who has reported

On the review dashboard and the Minister's dashboard, from period 1.

On-time, late and missed

Per SOE, in Performance Trends and the monthly view. Starts when period 1's late window closes, on the Monday of week 3.

Decisions, wins and concerns

On the Minister's dashboard and in the printable executive summary, from period 1.

Trends in SOE metrics

In Performance Trends once a metric has two periods of values; useful from about month 2.

Success measures to agree

We propose agreeing success measures in week 1, such as the share of SOEs reporting on time.

Baseline we ask for

We ask the Ministry for today's figures: how many SOE reports arrive on time and how long the briefing takes.

01

Weeks 1 to 2

Set up for Samoa

Agree terms and data location

Move the clock to Apia time

Apply Ministry only on every page

Finish rebranding; encrypt backups

Agree success measures and baseline

02

Weeks 3 to 4

Onboard and train

Load the real SOEs and Ministry users

Invite each SOE CEO; CEOs add their deputy and coordinator

Agree two or three metrics per SOE, with fixed names

We propose short training for coordinators, CEOs and reviewers

03

Weeks 5 to 8

Run two reporting periods

Week 5 starts on a period Monday in the fixed two-week calendar

We propose email support on working days, at agreed response times

Check use on phones and from Savai'i

04

Week 9

Decide on routine use

After period 2's late window closes

Joint review against the agreed measures

Agree support, hosting and running costs

What we ask

A Ministry lead and reviewer · A contact in each SOE · The current SOE list and CEOs · Baseline figures on today's reporting · A decision on hosting and data location

Phones and language: it runs in a phone's web browser, in English. We test phones in the pilot and scope Gagana Samoa after it.