Survey on Improving Data Management in Government by Chief Data Officers
Improving data management and inventory is a priority for federal agencies. Congress passed the bipartisan Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act (Evidence Act) in 2018, setting clear expectations for federal agencies on data governance. The Evidence Act formalized the role of the Chief Data Officer (CDO) in agencies and standardized CDOs responsibilities.
The Data Foundation, in partnership with Grant Thornton Public Sector and Qlik, conducted a survey of CDOs which assessed their progress in implementing new rules and responsibilities and looked for places that needed improvement.
Among its findings, the survey found 97 percent of CDOs worked for the federal government for five or more years and 61 percent have been with the same organization for at least five years. 75 percent of CDOs reported successful data governance efforts, but three in five CDOs cite financial and budgetary constraints as significant barriers to promoting data-driven government.
CDOs agree that there are ongoing priorities within their roles, especially since the title is new and data governance is a recent priority of the federal government. Nearly 75 percent are prioritizing completion of their agency data inventory, 66 percent intend to focus on improving data, as well as implementing a broad data strategy, and 50 percent are focused on assessing agency data maturity.
Government data is an asset for all federal agencies and an important tool for critical decision making. The report found that while progress has been made on this front, there is significant space for improvement as well. The report makes the following recommendations to strengthen the role of CDOs as they continue to implement the Evidence Act:
CDOs need sustained resources to implement data priorities.
Agencies must make increased data literacy a priority.
Agency leadership must recognize and support the CDO role and CDO community.
CDOs can benefit from the user community’s involvement.
The Evidence Act has bolstered the need for data security and management, but CDOs see a clear need to engrain data governance into the culture of federal agencies and make it a top priority for the federal workforce. CDOs play an important role in the implementation of the Evidence Act and continued progress and recommendations will ensure that the federal workforce continues working efficiently for the American people.
