Hawaii has long embraced the data revolution. It already has an open data portal and a campaign to increase data sharing among the various state agencies. But Hawaii does not yet have an official CDO, which has hampered the enforcement of efficient data sharing. This may soon change with the introduction or a couple of bills aimed out overhauling Hawaii’s data infrastructure.

Lucas Ropek filed this report in Government Technology:

In Hawaii, newly introduced legislation would transform the state’s approach to data, creating a position for a chief data officer and an associated task force to develop and manage policies and standards. Two sets of companion bills — SB1001 and HB532; SB219 and HB531 — were introduced in January with the proposed changes. Both were recently approved by the House Committee on Economic Development and Business, and are currently in the process of further review.

The legislation aims to make data more manageable for government officials, centralizing all state agencies behind one unified strategy, while also increasing transparency and public access to that data.

Under the bills, the new CDO would serve with the Office of Enterprise Technology Services, and the associated task force, led by the CDO, would set about developing and implementing data policy for the state.

State CIO Douglas Murdock described the benefits of the new legislation as “efficient integration, management, governance and storing of data,” adding that it would go a long way to help advance IT infrastructure.

Murdock, who replaced outgoing CIO Todd Nacapuy in January, added that the new legislation would mean more efficient data sharing and increased transparency. “The ability of state agencies to share each other’s data to make better decisions [would be beneficial]. In the end it’s about the decisions that we make and not about the data itself,” Murdock said.