The Pentagon has begun the search for a Chief Data Officer (CDO) that will report directly to the Defense Department’s (DoD) Office of the CIO (OCIO) as the department begins transitioning the CDO position to OICO.
Confirmed by MeriTalk, a memo from DoD CIO Dana Deasy to Deputy Secretary of Defense David Norquist said that DoD CIO has “begun seeking qualified candidates to serve as CDO.” The CIO will provide a recommendation after the interview process.
The CDO move would be in accordance with National Defense Authorization Act Section 903 that requires the CDO report directly to the CIO of DoD.
Deasy also said in the memo that he was going to set up a small team of approximately 10 individuals to support the CDO. He identified his first priority for the CDO office to be “ensuring that DoD data policies, standards, and implementation are fully aligned to the needs for all-domain operations against a capable adversary.”
DoD Deputy CIO for Information Enterprise Peter Ranks will temporarily lead the DoD CIO office and take over leadership of current data governance bodies, in addition to chartering a formal Data Governance Board, according to the memo.
As of today, Michael Conlin remains identified as CDO for the Defense Department on his LinkedIn page.
