Table 3 Guideline criteria for... | Emerald Publishing

Table 3

Guideline criteria for evaluating PI design

Characteristic	Description
Meaningful	Easy to interpret and unambiguous.
Purposeful	Designed for an explicitly stated purpose.
Strategic (linked to outcomes)	Designed to provide meaningful feedback on progress towards desired outcomes.
Future focused	Designed to measure elements of performance relevant to the future of the infrastructure system in question.
Systemic	Clearly linked to the system that they are measuring. Each PI should be part of a meaningful multidimensional set that collectively gives a view of system performance. Indicators should not be used in isolation for the purpose of optimising individual system elements.
Transparent	The underlying data source(s) for any indicator need to be declared, as do methods and justifications for any calculation/aggregation/normalisation performed to create the indicator. Where an indicator is aggregated from multiple data sources, it should be published alongside the indicators that comprise it.
Relevant presentation	Relevant information can be hidden by average or normalised values. A range of formats should be considered for publishing indicators such that the indicator meaningfully communicates behaviour linked to its strategic purpose.
Geographical scale	Indicators should be presented on a geographical scale relevant to decision makers. Where national data are published, appropriate regional data should be made available.
Reviewed frequently	Indicators should be frequently reviewed in terms of whether they remain fit for purpose and aligned with strategic outcomes. Indicators no longer aligned with these elements should be removed or adapted to ensure that the indicator remains meaningful.
Not data constrained	Strategic elements of performance or outcomes that need to be measured should be identified before issues of data availability are considered. Where data are unavailable or not, clear justification of the use of alternative indicators should be provided.
Objective and neutral	Not framed in terms of specific technologies or infrastructures that can be used to enable the desired outcome.
Encourage innovation	Send clear signals to infrastructure industries by being consistent with strategic outcomes.
Reflect stakeholders’ needs	Designed to provide relevant information to stakeholder groups who may use them.
Capture multiple stakeholder perspectives	Indicators should provide measures of performance relevant to a range of infrastructure stakeholder perspectives.

Characteristic	Description
Meaningful	Easy to interpret and unambiguous.
Purposeful	Designed for an explicitly stated purpose.
Strategic (linked to outcomes)	Designed to provide meaningful feedback on progress towards desired outcomes.
Future focused	Designed to measure elements of performance relevant to the future of the infrastructure system in question.
Systemic	Clearly linked to the system that they are measuring. Each PI should be part of a meaningful multidimensional set that collectively gives a view of system performance. Indicators should not be used in isolation for the purpose of optimising individual system elements.
Transparent	The underlying data source(s) for any indicator need to be declared, as do methods and justifications for any calculation/aggregation/normalisation performed to create the indicator. Where an indicator is aggregated from multiple data sources, it should be published alongside the indicators that comprise it.
Relevant presentation	Relevant information can be hidden by average or normalised values. A range of formats should be considered for publishing indicators such that the indicator meaningfully communicates behaviour linked to its strategic purpose.
Geographical scale	Indicators should be presented on a geographical scale relevant to decision makers. Where national data are published, appropriate regional data should be made available.
Reviewed frequently	Indicators should be frequently reviewed in terms of whether they remain fit for purpose and aligned with strategic outcomes. Indicators no longer aligned with these elements should be removed or adapted to ensure that the indicator remains meaningful.
Not data constrained	Strategic elements of performance or outcomes that need to be measured should be identified before issues of data availability are considered. Where data are unavailable or not, clear justification of the use of alternative indicators should be provided.
Objective and neutral	Not framed in terms of specific technologies or infrastructures that can be used to enable the desired outcome.
Encourage innovation	Send clear signals to infrastructure industries by being consistent with strategic outcomes.
Reflect stakeholders’ needs	Designed to provide relevant information to stakeholder groups who may use them.
Capture multiple stakeholder perspectives	Indicators should provide measures of performance relevant to a range of infrastructure stakeholder perspectives.