(US and Canada) Theodore Kaouk, Deputy Director of Human Capital Data Management and Modernization, and Chief Data Officer, U.S. Office of Personnel Management, speaks with Denise Verdicchio, SVP, President, Public Sector Sales at SHI International, about organizing data structures, the necessity of data culture, acceleration barriers faced by CDOs, resolving workspace conflicts, and carrying out successful digital initiatives.

Kaouk states that best practices continue to emerge and change. He adds that there is no single approach, and they are looking at how agencies develop best practices as they continue to refine their approach. He maintains that they must be in conversation with one another about moving ahead in harmony in order to deliver value.

Kaouk emphasizes that data culture is an idea that opens people up to the art of the possible. Some important elements of data culture include having the right skill sets, being agile, crossing organizational boundaries, and having leadership with data-driven acumen to ask the right questions.

Developing dashboards is one way to enlighten people about the possibilities, says Kaouk. He stresses the need to provide the right training for better usage of tools. Incentives, he points out, are public or internal data competitions for employees’ enhanced learning opportunities.

Kaouk urges that the idea of a data-driven culture should be prioritized in strategies and practices. He highlights the importance of having human-centered design. Kaouk recalls how a newsletter helped to keep users updated about changing dashboards across agencies, which impacted usage significantly.

According to Kaouk, to accelerate, organizations need to find out which data strategies are working well and share those best practices. Some barriers to acceleration are choosing the right talent in government, the infrastructure of agencies, and the new role of the CDO, Kaouk says. CDOs have to add value to their agencies first before they recognize the importance of resourcing groups. Then the data infrastructure and analytics flow from that. 

Kaouk believes that working together helps them overcome these barriers. He believes that the data strategies should directly support individual agencies as well as the federal government. Kaouk advises that organizations structure services from the outside in, rather than from the inside out.

He states that this approach benefits both sides. Kaouk understands that there are conflicts along the way, but keeping his eyes on the intersection of opportunities will help resolve the issues.

Finally, Kaouk explains that they are setting precedents for the future. He believes that having a common foundational language will enable them to accelerate innovation around data skills, inventory, and maturity. With an impressive team, better human capital data will be delivered across the federal government, Kaouk says.