2022 Survey of Federal Chief Data Officers

An annual survey and report by Data Foundation

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Washington, DC

The Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018 (Evidence Act) requires agency heads to designate a nonpolitical official as Chief Data Officer (CDO). This new capability in government specifically calls for officials who have qualifications and training in data governance, privacy, data collection, data management, data analysis, and data dissemination to perform tasks that build capacity, infrastructure, and the use of data to inform decision-making. CDOs are instrumental in moving their agencies along the data maturity ladder, which culminates in the agency using data and engaging in evidence-based decision-making. The Data Foundation’s three annual surveys of federal CDOs show that while CDOs are making commendable progress implementing the Evidence Act and the Federal Data Strategy, there are understandable challenges to achieving the CDO mission that can be addressed with more support. The Data Foundation 2022 CDO Survey, conducted in partnership with Guidehouse, adds additional context and new questions to better understand these challenges, along with themes related to equity and customer service. The Data Foundation combined its survey results this year with information from the CDO Council’s 2022 survey to develop a more complete view of the CDO office and to help shape recommendations.