Key Performance Indicator — a measurable value used to evaluate how effectively an objective or target is being achieved.
KPIs translate goals into numbers. They provide a concrete, trackable measure of progress toward a specific outcome. A good KPI is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. KPIs are used in business, government, and non-profit contexts to monitor performance and guide decisions.
KPIs are most useful when they are tied to decisions: if the KPI is above target, what action follows? If it is below target, what changes? A KPI that no one acts on is just a number.
Example: A city's open data program has a KPI of "percentage of priority datasets published as open data." The target is 80% by year-end. Each quarter, the team measures how many priority datasets have been published and reports the percentage. If the KPI is below target, the team investigates which datasets are delayed and why.