(US & Canada) VIDEO | Data Governance Is Always a Challenge — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDO

Dr. Alan Sim, Chief Data Officer at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, speaks with Adita Karkera, Chief Data Officer, Government and Public Services at Deloitte, in a video interview about his professional journey, role as a data diplomat, the three focus areas of enterprise data offices, data governance, strategies to ensure consistency in data and architecture projects, and cultural shift.

Sim begins by discussing his background in epidemiology and public health. He started his career 25 years ago as one of the first members of the Public Health Informatics Fellowship. Then, his career led him to the Department of Defense, where he managed the Military Health System Population Health Portal and developed disease registries, analytic support, and reports.

For the last 5 years, Sim has been leading a data innovation team at the Defense Health Agency, focusing on advanced data analytics, predictive analytics, and applying data science and clinical decision support to major issues like opioid prevention. Because of his experience and history with the CDC, he was appointed as the Chief Data Officer in December 2020.

Next, Sim mentions that he currently administers under the CIO and that the CDC is undergoing a reorganization that could lead to his transitioning to the new Office of Public Health Data Surveillance and Technology. He emphasizes his role as a data diplomat, stating that he represents the community in engaging with partners while addressing critical issues and highlighting the work being done.

Moving forward, Sim discusses the enterprise data office, focusing on three priority areas:

1. Enterprise analytics and data science

2. Strategy and enterprise data management

3. Data governance and policy

The office encourages centers, institutes, and offices to catalog data through the development of an enterprise data catalog, he maintains. Additionally, the office also works to establish data use agreements and frameworks that ensure confidentiality and limit access to those with a need to know.

Furthermore, Sim says data governance is always a challenge. He states that a Big Bang approach to implementing data governance in the government sector makes it extremely difficult to reach a consensus and make progress.

Instead, he recommends breaking data work into domains and finding communities who are invested in the data sets. To accomplish this, Sim set up a data standards management and harmonization working group and partnered with the Office of the National Coordinator on industry standards.

Thereafter, he mentions working with an IT and data governance team that focuses on investments and the implementation of architecture across the entire organization. He shares that the architecture review team evaluates designs to ensure consistency in their data and architecture projects.

In conclusion, Sim reveals that he has noticed a cultural shift within the different programs, leading to more enterprise-minded thinking when it comes to data governance challenges since working with the IT and Data Governance teams.

CDO Magazine appreciates Dr. Alan Sim for sharing his insights with our global community.