Government data is fuel for job creation, says Commerce Department CDO
From: Tech Republic
By Alex Howard
Ian J. Kalin, the first chief data officer (CDO) at the Commerce Department, is figuring out how to tie data products and science to a core mission of his agency: enhancing business and commerce.
The US has been collecting and publishing nautical data since the 19th century, providing navigators with better maps of the oceans that they sailed and then steamed across. Today, government agencies publish data about labor, energy, health, transit, telecommunications, criminal justice, and just about everything else than can be measured, managed, performed, or regulated by state entities.
The 12 bureaus that make up the US Department of Commerce are among the most important collectors and publishers of data in the nation, and thus on the planet. While the US Census Bureau has been an international leader in publishing its data online for use and reuse across multiple platforms, the other 11 are still figuring out how to approach making data into a national strategic asset.
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