A first-of-its-kind state chief data officer (CDO) tracker has been released by the Beeck Center for Social Impact and Innovation to log the increasing number of CDOs working in state governments and their efforts across agencies.
The tracker provides detailed information on the 32 state CDOs, while also noting vacancies and whether a state has a CDO position. Other information includes the CDO’s name, year established, enabling legislation, open data platform, open data portal, and verification status.
“The decentralization of key information – such as which states have established CDO or equivalent positions, their organizational structures, and enabling legislation – has historically made it challenging to understand and leverage the full potential of state CDOs,” said the Beeck Center.
“This lack of accessibility creates barriers to collaboration, innovation, and the replication of best practices. The State Chief Data Officer Tracker directly addresses this gap,” it continued.
While cities were the first level of government to establish CDOs – starting in New York City in 2010 – the state of Colorado quickly followed suit, with New York, Illinois, and Connecticut joining later. Some states still don’t have an established CDO role or have a CDO equivalent role.
“State CDOs play a key collaborative role in overseeing the management, accessibility, and strategic use of data across government agencies,” said the Beeck Center. “Since the first CDO role was established in 2010, the increasing presence of CDOs in state government has sparked important discussions on how these roles are created, structured, and resourced.”
The Beeck Center said the tracker is intended to serve as a “dynamic, evolving resource” for a variety of people to help establish or expand CDO or equivalent roles, benchmark how other states are operating, and track progress and growth in the field.