Chief Data Officers Council Releases Results of CDO Survey

On May 31, 2021, the Chief Data Officers Council (CDOC) released the results of their survey of Chief Data Officers (CDOs) meant to assess the organizational reporting and grade for CDOs, the areas of responsibility for CDOs, and the most common challenges. Under the 2019 Open, Public, Electronic and Necessary (OPEN) Government Data Act, federal agencies must have a Chief Data Officer responsible for handling information trading, data processing, and analysis within an agency.

Of the 39 survey respondents, 11 CDOs said they report directly to their agency head or deputy head and another 11 said they report to their agency’s Chief Information Officer (CIO). In terms of areas of responsibility, data governance, data policy, data strategy, and open data were top priorities for CDOs. A majority of CDOs reported that the job of CDO was their primary role in their respective agencies.

When it comes to challenges on the job, CDOs listed several different issues they have run into. The top three concerns were limited staff skills or workforce hiring challenges, data governance challenges, and a lack of direct funding. Privacy and security concerns and technological barriers were the least likely common obstacles, according to survey responses.

An issue that came to light from these survey results was that many CDOs do not have direct access to the heads of their agencies. However, CDO Council Chairman Ted Kaouk explained that different reporting structures present both challenges and opportunities depending on the agency and its size. At smaller agencies, for example, many CDOs stated that the role of CDO was not their primary responsibility. On the contrary, at larger agencies, CDOs said that their role was their primary responsibility.

Kaouk furthered, “We’ve seen successes with CDOs who report to CIOs, or those who report to senior administration officials or others. But I think that is something that the community — and it is a new community — is going to develop and think about more in the future.”