(US and Canada) Joshua Martin, Chief Data Officer, Indiana Management Performance Hub, speaks with Adita Karkera, Chief Data Officer, Deloitte Government and Public Services, in this video interview about the origins of the Data Governance Council, a key COVID-era initiative, and focus areas for upcoming CDOs.

Martin states that the Data Governance Council was set up to bring federal CDOs together to figure out the right enterprise policies, learn from each other, improve data governance and management, and collaborate on strategies.

Martin explains that his job is to provide resources to help develop statewide policies that can help fill some of the gaps. It started with inviting leaders from major data-holding agencies, including the Department of Transportation, Family and Social Services Administration, the Health Department, and sister agencies like the Office of Management Budget. Identifying those gaps required input from the partner agencies.

Regarding the council’s structure, he points out that advisory committees focus on specific domains such as health and human services, public safety, privacy, and personnel. He adds that their goal is to try not to operate in a vacuum.

Concerning the data governance approach, Martin says that the organization is trying to move to the consciously competent phase. He maintains that the aim is to eventually move to “unconscious competence,” where data governance becomes part of day-to-day work for everyone in the organization.

Sharing a key success story, Martin speaks about the COVID-era initiative to identify all the citizens in the state and notify them in a personalized manner to get a vaccine. Indiana Management Performance Hub worked with the Fairbank School of Public Health for a population prevalence study, compiling data from administrative sources to create a valuable asset.

In conclusion, Martin shares the following advice for the next generation of CDOs:

1. Focus on the prize and continue to improve.
2. Focus on the most important things that can provide the best impact.
3. Build data assets with reuse in mind and continue to improve the product.
4. Celebrate wins with partners, fellow state agencies, and external organizations.
5. Bring the right capabilities in at the right time and leverage the assets across the different state entities.

CDO Magazine appreciates Joshua Martin for sharing his insights and data success stories with our global community.

See more from Joshua Martin

We’re Using Data to Provide Better Citizen Services

I Can’t Scale to Meet Demand Without Governance