The Government Has Chief Data Officers, But What Do They Do?

In the past two years, there has been a new addition to the government’s C-suite – the chief data officer.

Charged with making better use of the increasing amount of data federal agencies collect, CDOs are primed to have a major impact on government in the coming years. But what, exactly, is expected of CDOs across the federal landscape? The position is so new that factors like budgetary authority, reporting structures and even job descriptions vary across agencies.

My colleague, Nextgov News Editor Jack Moore, wrote a phenomenal feature series on the government’s first crop of CDOs back in March, providing a detailed look at how various agencies make use of their new CDOs. That piece served as the baseline for a live event Nextgov will host Tuesday, June 23 from 7:30-9:30 a.m. at the Ronald Reagan Building.

The event is titled “Rise of the Chief Data Officer” and will feature a keynote from veteran CDO, Micheline Casey of the Federal Reserve Board, and a panel discussion featuring Transportation Department CDO Dan Morgan, FEMA CDO Scott Shoup and Dr. Peter Aiken, author of "The Case for the Chief Data Officer."

Register for the live event here or sign up for the live stream if you can’t make it in person.

(Image via ra2studio/ Shutterstock.com)