Our mission
The Chief Data Officer (CDO) for the Commonwealth oversees the Massachusetts Data Office, which is housed within the Executive Office of Technology Services and Security (EOTSS).
Our mission is to establish data standards, promote data sharing, and drive innovation in data and analytics across state government.
History
The Governor’s office, in partnership with the Legislature, created EOTSS in 2017 to modernize the state’s IT and security infrastructure and “to improve data security, safeguard privacy, and promote better service delivery” across the Commonwealth.
The legislation empowered the EOTSS secretary to appoint a CDO for the Commonwealth and established the CDO’s authority over state data policies, data strategy, and data sharing.
Since 2018, the state has made strides in building and improving on the legal and technical infrastructure to facilitate data-driven government.
Data programs and services
A multi-disciplinary team within the Data Office works with the CDO to offer a range of programs and services.
Open data
The Massachusetts Data Hub is a landing page for people looking for state data. It includes links to more than 350 pages containing data and reports from more than 90 agencies. Visitors can search, browse, or view popular and featured data without needing to know which agency published that data. The Data Office is working with partner agencies to implement standards for data formatting and publishing to promote a consistent user experience across agency content.
Data sharing
The state’s data sharing framework is designed to ensure that data is shared securely and deliberately between state agencies to drive better-informed decision making. The Data Sharing Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) provides that common framework for use by all state agencies and formalizes the process for sharing protected data.
State agencies use Data Use License Agreements (DULAs) to agree on the details of data sharing for a particular purpose or project. The Data Office facilitates the DULA process.
Data literacy
The Data Office is offering a new series of online courses to promote data literacy among state employees. The first course, Data Science for Managers, provides managers with foundational tools to communicate more effectively with their teams around data and promote a culture of data-driven decision-making.
Data projects
The Data Office helps agencies complete data analysis and data visualization projects. A few examples of projects:
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Working with the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) to address “churn” among SNAP participants.
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Learn to Earn: A 10-agency initiative to make available de-identified, aggregated data about individuals across the transitional assistance and workforce training/adult education areas.
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Human Resources Department (HRD) Diversity Dashboard: A public-facing dashboard of the state’s workforce focuses on time trends and demographics.