Matthew Graviss, chief data officer of the State Department, said he envisions data as a vital asset for both industry and government and that his department plans to establish a one-stop shop for dataset access.
Graviss said at an interview with Federal News Network aired Tuesday that the State Department is focusing on data management issues and that the Data.State initiative will enable the sharing of information across bureaus.
He noted that data management, along with culture and technology, will enable the department to benefit from analytics. According to Graviss, the State Department is working on enlisting more talent and developing the skills of current personnel for data-focused functions.
Speaking on the department’s partnerships with allied agencies like the intelligence community, Graviss said that data sharing is “really important within the federal government” and that it is a critical part of efforts under the department’s COVID-19 working group.
The group, which falls under Graviss’ management, is focused on sharing the right data to support pandemic response initiatives including vaccination, according to Graviss.