VIDEO | State of Oregon CDO: Executive Buy-in and Leadership Makes a Huge Difference

(US and Canada) Kathryn Darnall Helms, Chief Data Officer, State of Orgon, speaks with Denise Collison, SHI International Corp. SVP of Public Sector Sales, in a video interview about her professional journey, experiences as an inaugural CDO, and lessons from building the first data strategy for the state.

Helms began her professional journey with archiving and preserving records of global human rights abuse. She eventually moved from archives to records management and then to data management and governance. Before Oregon, she worked on the city of Austin’s open data program and information governance making data and information accessible and navigable for the public. She says that simply posting data online and not providing context, metadata, and meaning can make it difficult for people to use the data.

Speaking about her role as the inaugural CDO for the state of Oregon, Helms says that it involved a lot of foundation building. She adds that moving from the local government to the state level was a major shift especially because of the diversity and expertise in the business context.

Among the firsts, Helms mentions building the first data strategy, launching the first open data program, and unveiling the first statewide data governance policy. The next step would involve maturing them, building enterprise data governance, focusing on data literacy and education, and ensuring the availability of mentorship and support.

Next, she speaks about the role of mentorship and mentions the support from state CIO Terrence Woods that helped her acclimate to state culture specifically. Having executive buy-in and leadership makes a huge difference, she adds.

Sharing her steps to building the first data strategy Helms mentions the following:

1. Leveraging the chief data officer advisory council

2. Find research directors, CIOs, and stakeholders interested in building something collaborative and meaningful for the state

3. Adopting a model similar to the federal data strategy 

4. Doing a gap analysis

5. Building core principles to manage data

6. Building equity and inclusion into the core principles 

7. Encouraging sharing as a culture and community

8. Focusing on building a data-informed culture

She goes on to speak about the high-level 10-year horizon practices for the organization and mentions the ‘biennial action plans’ that are refreshed every two years. Helms recommends creating shorter executive summaries for lengthy strategies.

Concluding, she mentions releasing drafts for the strategy to the public to receive and collect comments, and for making sure that that development was an inclusive process.

CDO Magazine appreciates Kathryn Darnall Helms for sharing his insights and data success stories with our global community.