The role of chief data officer (CDO) is relatively new to government. The position has been increasingly added to states, cities and counties over the last few years, with a handful of people filling the role starting in 2014. Colorado was pioneer in the space, bringing on a CDO in 2010, and New York City followed suit a year later.
In many cases, those listed on our map are the first to hold the title of CDO for their state or jurisdiction. Here we look at where CDOs are working in state and local government, along with links to the open data portal they support.
Get more info about all the public-sector roles that touch data in our in-depth story The Job of Data: The Chiefs in Charge of Data in the C Suite.
Did we miss a state or local chief data officer? Email epittman@govtech.com with the details.
Check out page 2 for the details about each CDO.
States
Alabama
Rick Boyce
February 2016 (Began working for the Office of Information Technology in March 2014)
Bio: Alabama.gov
Fast fact: Boyce was the state’s Y2K coordinator.
Open data portal: open.alabama.gov
California
Zachary Townsend
June 2016
Bio: govops.ca.gov
Fast fact: Before joining state government, Townsend was a tech exec in Silicon Valley.
Open data portal: data.ca.gov
GovTech coverage: Inaugural Chief Data Officer Appointed in California
Colorado
Jon Gottsegen
April 2016
Bio: n/a
Fast fact: Gottsegen was previously the state GIS coordinator in Colorado.
Open data portal: data.colorado.gov
GovTech coverage: Contemplating Change for Coding Competitions, Hackathons
Connecticut
Tyler Kleykamp
February 2014
Bio: n/a
Fast fact: Kleykamp’s technology skills are largely self-taught, picked up along the way as he worked on GIS databases.
Open data portal: data.ct.gov
GovTech coverage: Chief Data Officers: Shaping One of the Newest Positions in Government
New Jersey
Liz Rowe
March 2015
Bio: n/a
Fast fact: The chief data officer was codified into state law in February.
Open data portal: data.nj.gov
GovTech coverage: New Jersey Prioritizes Open Data, Codifies Chief Data Officer Position
New York
Todd Harbour
November 2016
Bio: albany.edu
Fast fact: Harbour worked for the federal government before taking on his current role with New York.
Open data portal: data.ny.gov
North Carolina
John Correllus
April 2016
Bio: it.nc.gov
Fast fact: Correllus also serves as director of North Carolina’s Government Data Analytics Center.
Open data portal: n/a
GovTech coverage: Taking a Peek Inside North Carolina's Government Data Analytics Center
Tennessee
Jeffrey Kriseman (Chief Data and Informatics Officer)
November 2015
Bio: n/a
Fast fact: Kriseman previously was the Tennessee Department of Public Health’s chief public health informatics officer.
Open data portal: tn.gov/transparenttn
Counties
King County, Wash.
Bill Yock
February 2017
Bio: n/a
Fast fact: Prior to joining King County, Yock was executive director of enterprise information services for the University of Washington.
Open data portal: data.kingcounty.gov
Los Angeles County
Mark Greninger
June 2016
Bio: lacounty.gov
Fast fact: Before becoming CDO, Greninger was the county’s geographic information officer for 10 years.
Open data portal: data.lacounty.gov
Riverside County, Calif.
Tom Mullen
May 2015
Bio: riversidecountyit.org
Fast fact: Mullen started working with the county in 1999 as the chief deputy treasurer tax collector.
Open data portal: data.countyofriverside.us
Cities
Boston
Andrew Therriault
June 2016
Bio: cityofboston.gov
Fast fact: Therriault previously served as director of data science for the Democratic National Committee.
Open data portal: data.cityofboston.gov
GovTech coverage: Boston Appoints First Chief Data Officer and 'Analyze Boston' to Expand Data Sets, Enhance Data Literacy
Chicago
Tom Schenk
September 2014
Bio: tomschenkjr.net
Fast fact: Schenk is one of the leaders of the Civic Analytics Network, a nationwide network of urban chief data officers.
Open data portal: data.cityofchicago.org
GovTech coverage: Chicago's Chief Data Officer Hones in On Predictive Analytics, Open Source
Cincinnati
Brandon Crowley
July 2015
Bio: cincinnati-oh.gov
Fast fact: Crowley’s IT career with the city spans more than 17 years, according to LinkedIn. Crowley reports to Chief Performance Officer Leigh Tami.
Open data portal: data.cincinnati-oh.gov
Kansas City, Mo.
Eric Roche
May 2015
Bio: n/a
Fast fact: Roche calls himself an “open data pitmaster” on Twitter.
Open data portal: data.kcmo.org
GovTech coverage: 3 Highlights from the 2016 Gigabit City Summit
Los Angeles
Lilian Coral
March 2015
Bio: n/a
Fast fact: Coral previously served as the city’s deputy chief data officer.
Open data portal: data.lacity.org
GovTech coverage: Los Angeles Leads Open Data Innovation with the GeoHub
Louisville
Michael Schnuerle
October 2016
Bio: louisvilleky.gov
Fast fact: Before joining the city, Schnuerle launched a Google Maps-based tool to show users crime reports from around Louisville.
Open data portal: portal.louisvilleky.gov/service/data
GovTech coverage: Louisville, Ky., Becomes 12th City to Hire Chief Data Officer
Nashville, Tenn.
Robyn Mace
July 2016
Bio: n/a
Fast fact: In an article published earlier this year, Mace said she hoped to roll out new data sets including city employee earnings.
Open data portal: data.nashville.gov
Philadelphia
Tim Wisniewski
April 2014
Bio: timwis.com
Fast fact: Wisniewski and his team have helped the city’s departments release more than 200 data sets.
Open data portal: opendataphilly.org
GovTech coverage: Philadelphia Hires New Chief Data Officer and Chief Data Officers: Shaping One of the Newest Positions in Government
San Diego
Maksim Pecherskiy
November 2014
Bio: sandiego.gov
Fast fact: Pecherskiy ran a one-man data shop until September 2015 when he hired his first employee.
Open data portal: data.sandiego.gov
GovTech coverage: San Diego Hires its First Chief Data Officer and Jam-Packed C-Suite: How Can 3-Letter Chiefs with Roles that Touch Tech Work Together?
San Francisco
Joy Bonaguro
February 2014
Bio: datasf.org
Fast fact: Bonaguro was one of Government Technology’s Top 25 Doers, Dreamers and Drivers in 2016 as part of Team San Francisco.
Open data portal: data.sfgov.org
GovTech coverage: San Francisco Announces Chief Data Officer Joy Bonaguro
Syracuse, N.Y.
Sam Edelstein
March 2016
Bio: innovatesyracuse.com
Fast fact: In his previous role with the city, Edelstein built a data model designed to better apply maintenance to streets, according to LinkedIn.
Open data portal: n/a
Washington, D.C.
Barney Krucoff
June 2016
Bio: octo.dc.gov
Fast fact: Krucoff leads a team of employees that worked together previously in an unofficial capacity.
Open data portal: dc.gov/page/open-data
GovTech coverage: Barney Krucoff Named First Chief Data Officer of Washington, D.C.