New report aims to help states define the chief data officer role

The role of state chief data officer has proliferated in recent years, as government officials increasingly recognize the value of data to drive effective decision making and policymaking. However, barriers remain to establishing the role and its responsibilities, and a recent report aims to help state leaders solidify what it means to be a chief data officer. 

Broadly speaking, a state CDO refers to a government leader or agency assigned with managing the jurisdiction’s use of data, data sharing, analytics governance and use policies and more, according to a report released this month by Georgetown University's Beeck Center for Social Impact and Innovation. 

Nearly 40 states have established the role of chief data officer or equivalent agency, “yet no common model defines how they are structured, resourced or positioned,” the report reads. “Advocacy for greater resources requires greater understanding of the CDO role, its potential impact and the conditions that contribute to its success.” 

“A lot of CDOs want to do a lot, and they know it’s important work, what they do, but they just don’t have the means to do it,” said Vinith Annam, senior program manager for Data Labs at Georgetown University's Beeck Center for Social Impact and Innovation. The report can “help CDOs or data leaders advocate for establishment of the role, funding and for greater authority.” 

Indeed, the report offers insights and suggestions for archetypes of state CDOs across the U.S., to “give practitioners a shared vocabulary for discussing how CDO offices are designed, resourced and evolving across diverse contexts, making it easier to understand operating constraints and realities,” the report states. “For example, archetypes can help make more insightful budget comparisons across CDO offices by baselining evaluation across similar attributes.”

One archetype that Annam underscored in the report is the lone builder, an “early-stage or informal CDO function operating with limited authority and minimal resources.” These CDOs are more likely to rely on temporary funding or contractor support and “personal networks and informal sponsorship” to advance their work, the report reads. 

While the lone builder archetype faces influence and sustainability constraints, CDOs that align with this archetype, which Annam said are likely states who have recently established the role or are in the progress of creating it now, “have the benefit of learning from other states … mistakes and successes,” he explained. 

The lone builder can also capitalize on this learning experience to establish foundational data practices, impacting how data leadership, governance and standards will be shaped over time, Annam said. 

He pointed to a different archetype — the governance steward — whose means of establishment could help position the CDO to be more sustainable within government. The report describes the governance steward as a CDO whose position and authority is often codified through formal executive action.

A formal statute, executive order or “ideally legislation,” is critical for creating a sustainable chief data officer role because by doing so, “in some cases … you are able to get the funding, the personnel [and] the staffing to be able to run the [CDO] office,” Annam said. 

That security can help the CDO role and office remain resilient to changes to the state administration, office personnel or efforts to dissolve the position, he explained.  

Annam identified the Indiana Management Performance Hub, as an example. The hub was codified as an official state agency in 2017 after former Gov. Eric Holcomb signed the Open Data Act. It has since helped state officials improve their public health response and work with external partners to optimize the administration of social services in the state. 

Since its launch, the agency staff has grown from approximately 10 employees to nearly 40 as of August 2024, and Indiana lawmakers allocated more than $9 million to the agency for fiscal 2024 and approxiamately $9.8 million for fiscal 2025, the Indiana Capital Chronicle reported. 

The governance stewardship archetype is also more likely to maintain “strong ties to legal, privacy, security and risk management functions as well as to senior leadership responsible for compliance and oversight,” the report reads. 

State leaders should also consider where in government the CDO office lies, Annam said. Indeed, nearly 70% of CDOs said that they report to their state chief information officer. A CDO that falls under this model aligns with an IT-aligned executor archetype, through which the CDO functions are often led by a CIO or other tech leadership positions. 

While there’s nothing “necessarily wrong” about that reporting structure, “my concern is that a CDO role might just get thrown into this big CIO umbrella,” Annam said. Under this model, for example, the CDO likely manages data architectures, infrastructure and standards but has limited authority over data policy or program decisions. 

“The primary constraint is scope,” the report states. The CDO’s “alignment with IT enables execution at scale, but can limit the office’s ability to shape broader data strategy, governance, or policy-driven priorities.” 

States under this model could consider keeping the CDO and CIO — or other IT leadership — separate to ensure the former department’s roles and responsibilities are not restricted to the technical side of government services and operations, Annam said. 

Take, for example, Ohio’s Office of Data and Efficiency. The office was created last year and promotes cross-agency and cross-sector partnerships to enhance data sharing and collaboration among stakeholders, according to the report. 

Annam noted that Ohio’s CDO and CIO report jointly to the governor’s cabinet director of administration, rather than as a singular entity, he said. 

This approach helps ensure “that data remains a priority and is managed as an enterprise strategic asset,” the report states. “Ohio’s CDO also formed a CDO Council to align agencies on data strategy and practices, and to advance statewide analytics capabilities.” 

Ultimately, how states architect the CDO role and office will vary in scope across states, but recognizing shared challenges and solutions to its successful deployment will help states better understand its value and potential to improve government processes and services, Annam said. 

The report helps create “a shared vocabulary” as an “advocacy piece and … a communications tool” to build state leaders’ confidence in creating and advancing the CDO role,” he said.