Data Strategy Report 2024

Executive Summary

Vision for Effective and Ethical Use of Data

The California Office of Data and Innovation (ODI) has built upon the foundational work of the first California Data Strategy, published in 2020. Recognizing the evolving data landscape, ODI has updated its strategic objectives as mandated by its establishing legislation with a commitment to biennial reporting.

ODI acknowledges that the initial strategy’s landscape analysis and research continue to guide the State’s data endeavors. The strategy’s themes and goals have proved resonant and valuable in driving efforts towards the ethical and effective use of data. Notably, inspired activities by various departments, such as the appointment of data leaders and participation in key data strategy working groups, reflect the strategy’s influence and relevance.

The 2020 strategy set a vision for an ethical, equitable, and effective approach to using State data in addressing complex societal challenges. This vision is supported by the Data and Innovation Fund (DIF), which enables ODI to pursue evidence-based, data-driven solutions, and promote the adoption of emerging technologies, while balancing innovation with equity, security, and efficacy.

This updated strategy envisions a robust data ecosystem that supports informed decision-making and innovation, while safeguarding privacy and security. Central to this is fostering a culture of responsible data use across State departments and agencies, positioning data as a vital tool for improving Californian lives. Additionally, ODI’s launch of CalAcademy will enable the State workforce to acquire knowledge and skills necessary for sustainable government transformation and Statewide innovation.

Goals and Strategic Objectives

ODI’s goals and strategic objectives are based on the analogy that, to successfully navigate the data landscape, we must intentionally build the roads, establish the rules of the road, and boost the travelers on those roads. Much like in the real world, we want to avoid data roads that go nowhere, are poorly maintained, or confuse our drivers. Our virtual data world demands the same level of planning and care that we put into the roads and bridges of the real world. Below is a summary of the goals and objectives in this strategy.

Goal 1. Streamline data access | Build the data roads

Objective 1. Modernize data infrastructure. Accelerate adoption of modern data platforms to enable the secure and efficient use of data. Data platforms are easier to deploy, secure, and manage. ODI is ready to train the workforce and accelerate adoption through direct services, training, guidance, best practices, and communities of practice. This puts the State in a better position to manage data for proactive use and decision support.

Objective 2. Open data. Champion improvements to Statewide open data. Open data is a form of data infrastructure, which streamlines discovery and access to public datasets for both the public and the State workforce.

Goal 2. Improve data management and governance | Craft the rules of the road

Objective 3. Interagency data exchange. Monitor and continuously improve the Statewide data exchange agreement. Whole-person care, such as homelessness or Cradle-to-Career, depends on the secure, legal, and proper exchange of sensitive information across departments and agencies. The State established a data-sharing agreement that standardizes security and privacy regulations and decreases administrative work for data exchange. ODI now monitors key metrics to inform improvements to that agreement.

Objective 4. Ethical, equitable data governance and management. Develop, adopt, or modify playbooks for ethical data governance and management throughout the data lifecycle. Data must be managed throughout its lifecycle in a way that promotes not only quality, consistency, usability, and reuse, but also ethical use, including avoiding unintended bias or inequity.

Goal 3. Spur data use and ability | Boost the travelers

Objective 5. Data skills. Develop data literacy and skills across the State through CalAcademy. Common data skills may increase data competency across agency leadership, data staff, and frontline employees. ODI’s CalAcademy provides a vehicle for delivering training on data literacy and skills.

Objective 6. Data science and advanced analytics. Accelerate the adoption of ethical approaches to data science and advanced analytics. Data science and advanced analytics can improve decision-making in State departments. ODI is providing direct services and will develop playbooks and toolkits to help departments implement ethical approaches to data use.

Strategic Plan

An Update to the California Data Strategy

California’s first Data Strategy was published in August of 2020. With the reorganization and establishment of ODI in July 2022, updates to the strategy have been incorporated through legislation. ODI will update the strategy biennially.

The landscape analysis and research completed in the initial strategy remains a solid foundation to guide the State. ODI’s direct work with departments continues to support the themes and data strategy goals identified in the initial research. The goals have resonated and continue to be useful in organizing efforts toward improving the ethical and effective use of data. However, strategic objectives have been updated to acknowledge the ever-changing data landscape.

The California Data Strategy has and continues to inspire activities by numerous departments who regularly point to the strategy to inform their own efforts.

Vision for Effective and Ethical use of Data

The previous data strategy was a testament to the State’s leadership and the vision of creating an ethical, equitable, and effective approach to using the State’s data to achieve more efficient outcomes and better services for California’s 40 million residents. The following excerpt from that first strategy set the initial tone:

As a society, we have tasked our governments with some of our most complex challenges. Just a few of these include educating our children, balancing public safety with social justice, and providing services to our most vulnerable, such as those experiencing homelessness. This means that we cannot afford to guess how well our services are working. The lives of Californians depend on us knowing what works and what doesn’t.

Better use of data and evidence by State employees and leadership can improve our decisions, services, and ultimately the outcomes and lives of our residents.

The strategy laid out objectives and goals for creating “robust data and evidence-based approaches to ensure that our programs and services are working in the way that we expect them to work”. 

California remains committed to transforming its approach to data management, and creating resources to train the State’s workforce to lead and innovate by effectively using data. ODI has partnered with State agencies and departments through the DIF, providing timely, evidence-based, data-driven solutions that are helping State staff meet mandates and legislative requirements.

ODI is also creating a culture of innovation and preparation. The adoption of emerging technology like Generative AI in State services raises both benefits and risks, and ODI will continue to collaborate with other agencies and departments in encouraging the responsible use of Generative AI in the State with equity, security, and efficacy as key values.

This strategy details a vision for California to continue to build a data ecosystem that supports informed decision-making, fosters innovation, and ensures the privacy and security of our residents’ data. This involves cultivating a culture of responsible data use across all State departments and agencies, where data is not just an asset but a tool for enhancing the lives of Californians. And to sustainably scale government transformation, ODI has launched CalAcademy to build the necessary knowledge base for Statewide innovation training.

Build the Capacity, Don’t be the Capacity

ODI has seen a great need for upskilling the workforce and empowering departments to make ethical and effective use of data. Focusing on building capacity in departments delivers the greatest impact and makes best use of limited resources. ODI is uniquely positioned to help foster capabilities across the State in this way. We do this in three major ways:

1. Through the Data and Innovation Fund, ODI offers direct services to departments aimed at delivering tangible outcomes around data problems while also developing and engaging department staff so they can meaningfully adopt practices and tools.
2. Through Communities of Practice, ODI will connect departments around data-related topics in partnership with the California Department of Technology (CDT) and other departments including on AI and data management.
3. Through the CalAcademy, ODI will offer the State workforce access to courses and training content in human centered design, plain language, user research and data best practices.

Direct projects funded through DIF enable ODI to stay connected to the real challenges facing departments, while communities of practice establish Statewide networks that break down silos and reach departments that we cannot serve through direct project work because of capacity. The CalAcademy further scales impact through training informed by the first two.

Research and Background

In 2020, the California Chief Data Officer (CDO) analyzed the state of data use through a mix of interviews, focus groups, data collection, and reviewing existing documents, studies, articles, and white papers. The findings from this analysis continue to hold true, and are summarized below.¹

Challenges to Data Use

The strategy is built around addressing the real challenges facing departments and the people they serve. The challenges and barriers surfaced during the research continue and are summarized below.

• Access and integration of data: Difficulty in finding and accessing cross-departmental data, and even within departments, is a primary barrier, hindering the effective use of data.
• Data quality and consistency: Issues with data consistency and quality affect the ability to combine data from various sources, leading to inefficiencies and redundant efforts.
• Staffing and organizational factors: Significant obstacles to effective data use are challenges related to staffing, skills, leadership support, and concerns with data sharing and privacy.
• Diverse departmental data needs: Departments have varying data requirements and uses, necessitating tailored data strategies. Departments that primarily perform research and enforce regulation like the Air Resources Board may have different data needs than those that are primarily service providers like the Department of Motor Vehicles.
• Role clarity and responsibility: Confusion exists around the roles of ‘business’ versus ‘technology’ in data management, emphasizing that business units should take ownership of data goals and application.

Data Practices Within the State Continue to Grow

While there are challenges, there are also many initiatives within and across State departments that are strengthening our data foundation. The following examples demonstrate leadership on the part of agencies and departments across the State:

• Several data governance projects are in place across State agencies, including the California Department of Transportation, the Franchise Tax Board, California Health and Human Services Agency (CalHHS), the Department of Water Resources (AB1755 Open and Transparent Water Data Partner Agency Team), and the CalEPA Data Empowerment Working group.
  
• Data literacy continues to be enhanced through staff assessments, training, and mentoring in a number of departments. ODI has established the CalAcademy, which will serve as a training vehicle to support improving data literacy and spreading best practices.
  
• Communities of practice are active within and across agencies, especially in open data, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and Artificial Intelligence.
• Leadership roles such as Chief Data Officers have been established in major departments to guide data strategy.
• Dashboarding projects are being developed for better data visualization and management in many departments. ODI’s new Analytics Accelerator supports departments in their development of dashboards by providing a series of hands-on training to first educate and then help departments build out dashboards to solve their specific use cases.
• Integrated data systems are being prioritized in various policy domains for more cohesive data management, including the Cradle-to-Career (C2C) Data System and the Homelessness Data Integration System. 
• Departments continue to make progress developing modern approaches for researchers to access integrated data securely to assess program efficacy and inform the delivery of critical social, human, and health services. The Center for Data Insights and Innovation (CDII) within CalHHS is working on developing the Agency Data Hub to support researchers and other data users, and C2C has secure data access for researchers on the roadmap as well.
• The Interagency Data Exchange Agreement has been adopted and is being actively used to facilitate inter-agency data sharing and collaboration.
• Demographic data collection and reporting standards are being applied more consistently across the State, with initiatives such as the California Health and Human Services Agency (CalHHS) data standards community, the Health in All Policies (HiAP) task force, and other working groups focused on improving the quality of demographic datasets within the State.

Continuous Learning and Improvement Supports a Living Strategy

The framework outlined here will guide ODI’s continuous and iterative efforts to support ethical and effective data use. 

ODI will continue to evolve our approach through: 

• Working directly with client departments through the Data and Innovation Fund (DIF) or Statewide strategic initiatives;
• Offering direct training to State staff to improve data literacy through ODI’s CalAcademy Training Program;
• Surveys and other feedback mechanisms;
• Learning from our peers in local, state, federal, and national governments;
• Participation in peer networks such as the Statewide Chief Data Officer Network;² and
• Monitoring data initiatives in nations across the world.

Goals and Strategic Objectives

Goals

Three core goals continue to guide the State’s work and have been referenced by other initiatives across departments and agencies. ODI recommends maintaining these core goals for this strategic plan update as they are expected to lead to key results, including more accessible and higher-quality data that ultimately lead to better outcomes for Californians.

To navigate the data landscape, we need to build the data roads, craft the rules of the road, and boost the travelers. Just like in the real world, we need to avoid roads that lead nowhere, are poorly maintained, or confuse travelers. The virtual data world requires the same planning and care as the real-world transportation system. This strategy and its goals and objectives guide our work with partners across the State to create a map for leaders and the State workforce to navigate the data landscape.

Below, each goal is briefly described. See the 2020 data strategy for a more detailed description of each goal.³

Goal 1. Streamline data access | Build the data roads

Access to comprehensive data is crucial for understanding complex challenges, like supporting vulnerable groups who interact with multiple systems such as healthcare and law enforcement. Our strategy aims to overcome technological and systemic barriers to facilitate shared, well-governed data infrastructure, enhancing our service delivery to Californians.

Goal 2. Improve data management and governance | Craft the rules of the road

Data management and governance, similar to standardizing road signs for safety and efficiency, are crucial yet often fall short. The inconsistency in data systems mirrors a fragmented highway system, hindering efficient information flow. For Californians, whose needs span various systems, ensuring secure, legal, and ethical use of data is as essential as having clear road rules and safety measures.

Goal 3. Spur data use and ability | Boost the travelers

Data use is a collective effort, essential at all organizational levels, from frontline staff to executive leadership. While the 2020 survey indicated data skills are not the primary barrier to data utilization, opportunities exist to foster organizational roles and structure that promotes extensive and effective data use.

Strategic Objectives

Below are a set of strategic objectives designed to support the State’s goals. Some of the objectives remain the same from the first data strategy but have been updated with new direction or context.

Objective 1. Modern data infrastructure. Accelerate adoption of modern data platforms to enable the secure and efficient use of data.

Primarily Supports: Goal 1: Streamline Data Access
Secondarily Supports: Goal 2: Improve Data Management; Goal 3: Spur Data Use and Ability

Data platforms have become easier to deploy, secure, and manage over the past decade. They have also become more cost effective. As the data platform market has matured, interoperability has improved through a variety of standards to meet the expectations of data platform customers. These platforms provide choices, flexibility, new opportunities, and unlock new capabilities for the State. 

While the market has improved and matured, it can be difficult to know where to start and how to navigate the options. ODI’s mission is to drive innovation across California State government, using data, technology, and human centered design to achieve exceptional, equitable outcomes for all Californians. Through ODI’s projects funded by DIF, ODI can train the existing workforce to put these platforms into practice and accelerate adoption. ODI anticipates this happening in several ways:

1. Direct services to departments: ODI provides direct services to departments funded through the DIF to expedite modern data platform adoption. ODI is currently engaging with four State departments and planning future cohorts.
2. Training: As ODI’s official training program, CalAcademy is both an internal and external training hub, fostering a culture of continuous learning and innovation Statewide. CalAcademy is a vehicle to deliver broader training based on the best practices developed through direct service engagements.   
3. Publishing guidance and best practices: ODI documents and disseminates best practices from its direct service work, extending its impact beyond direct client work.
4. Communities of practice: In collaboration with CDT, ODI will establish a community of practice around data management for departments using modern data platforms, scaling impact and fostering a growing body of knowledge.

Accelerating adoption of more interoperable, secure data platforms also puts the State in a better position to take advantage of new and emerging technologies. For example, certain GenAI use cases benefit from high quality, clean, and interoperable data.

Key partners. Department data leaders and their staff, IT leadership and their staff, and program leadership and their staff

Objective 2. Open data. Champion improvements to Statewide open data.

Primarily Supports: Goal 1: Streamline Data Access
Secondarily Supports: Goal 2: Improve Data Management; Goal 3: Spur Data Use and Ability

Since the State’s first data strategy was introduced, an assessment of open data was completed in collaboration with the Department of Technology (CDT). CDT, as the product owner of the Statewide open data platform, is currently updating the open data portal based on findings and building a roadmap to continuously improve open data. ODI will continue to collaborate and champion CDT’s work. Policy updates and development of standards will be updated in accordance with ODI’s authority established in legislation and in partnership with CDT as they develop and implement their roadmap.

Key partners. CDT’s Office of Digital Services, department and agency open data programs and governance entities, existing and potential users of open data.

Objective 3. Interagency data exchange. Monitor and continuously improve the Statewide data exchange agreement.

Primarily Supports: Goal 2: Improve Data Management
Secondarily Supports: Goal 1: Streamline Data Access; Goal 3: Spur Data Use and Ability

The State successfully established the Interagency Data Exchange Agreement (IDEA) in 2022. 111 executive departments have adopted the IDEA. The initial framework had been developed by the California Health and Human Services Agency for their departments. Partnering with them, the CDO worked to expand the framework to departments under the executive branch. The IDEA framework requires agreements to be registered with the CDO. This is so they can track adoption and inform improvements. However, agreements do not require approval of the CDO, but the CDO is responsible for mediating disputes only if necessary.

To date, the IDEA framework has received 71 data-sharing agreement submissions. Analysis on the tracking metrics for IDEA report that 62% of the data-sharing agreements took less than 6 months to complete, with 94% of IDEA users reporting that the framework reduced the negotiation time and resulted in faster data delivery. 98% of IDEA users cited that the framework simplified the data-sharing process, validating that IDEA’s approach in standardizing contract language will facilitate faster, easier, and safer processes for inter-agency data exchange.

Key partners. All agencies and data governance programs, CDT.

Objective 4. Ethical, equitable data governance and management. Develop, adopt, or modify playbooks for ethical data governance and management throughout the data lifecycle.

Primarily Supports: Goal 2: Improve Data Management
Secondarily Supports: Goal 3: Spur Data Use and Ability

Data management must prioritize quality, consistency, usability, and equity and ethical considerations throughout its lifecycle, ensuring that usage is appropriate, especially with advanced tools like machine learning. To support this, the adoption of shared playbooks and standards, drawn from existing internal and external resources, will standardize practices and align with strategic objectives like aiding in reducing bias and promoting equity. The Playbook on Algorithm Ethics: Conventional AI and Predictive Analytics and Demographic Data Standards are the two current priorities.

Playbook on Algorithm Ethics: Conventional AI and Predictive Analytics

Responsible artificial intelligence (AI) and data ethics are a global policy concern. California needs to ensure that our adoption of advanced statistical and machine learning techniques does not exacerbate inequity. ODI has taken a proactive step to develop practical guidance and tools that support ethical and responsible use of these techniques and data in our projects funded by DIF and for use by State organizations. This playbook applies to conventional AI tools such as machine learning, predictive analytics, and statistical approaches, not GenerativeAI.

To support responsible conventional AI and data science, ODI worked with partners in 2022 to research data ethics frameworks and develop an AI ethics toolkit for public sector use cases. A follow-on effort from ODI produced a crosswalk of this AI ethics toolkit against the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) AI Risk Management Framework to ensure that this resource was aligned with best practices and benchmarks being developed at the federal level. 

ODI has continued to develop and refine this resource by applying the toolkit to data science projects with ODI’s department clients.

This toolkit is designed to provide technical practitioners, project managers, and program leads with a practical and plain language approach to:

• Demystify the risks associated with AI and data science approaches;
• Assess risks related to a specific project, and;
• Identify clear methods and steps to mitigate those risks.

This toolkit framework will continue to be refined and iterated upon with the addition of emerging technologies, and future material such as data quality assessments and continuous monitoring guidance for AI models.

Demographic Data Standards

In response to EO N-16-22, ODI is developing recommendations for a data standard to establish consistent practices and guidance around race and ethnicity data collection and analysis. This data standard would ensure that state departments have a strong foundation on which they can develop equity metrics and programs. ODI has been closely tracking the federal race and ethnicity data standard, which was recently released earlier than anticipated. ODI has assessed the gaps between the federal standard and the needs of the State and is incorporating that gaps analysis into the research to ensure that the California standard meets the unique needs of California’s population while being compatible with the federal standard. To solicit feedback for these race and ethnicity standard recommendations, ODI partnered with GovOps in hosting community roundtables, state department consultations, and interviews with academic experts. ODI’s work in this critical area will continue in FY 23-24, focusing on alignment with the finalized federal data standard, user research, community engagement, and user testing efforts to refine the draft race and ethnicity standard to better serve California’s diverse population.

As part of the EO, ODI is also developing a preliminary assessment of standards for sexual orientation and gender identity and disability data collection and analysis. Working in partnership with the Possibility Lab, ODI will develop data standard recommendations for these additional areas later this year. This effort will involve focus group interviews with subject matter experts, community engagement and testing, and literature reviews across academia, civil society, and the federal government to leverage the latest best practices in these areas.

Key partners. Department governance programs

Objective 5. Data skills. Develop data literacy and skills across the State through CalAcademy

Primarily Supports: Goal 3: Spur Data Use and Ability
Secondarily Supports: Goal 2: Improve Data Management

CalAcademy will design professional development opportunities around human-centered design, data best practices and other relevant disciplines within ODI to foster a culture of continuous learning and innovation across State departments. 

CalAcademy will serve as a Statewide training and resource hub, to share high-quality training content allowing ODI to test, refine, and scale future learning and development opportunities. It allows for partnership with the California Department of Human Resources (CalHR) and other departments through DIF engagements. ODI hired the Head of CalAcademy in the last fiscal year, a major ODI milestone. The Head of CalAcademy is responsible for the design and launch of this critical program. While CalAcademy has already begun facilitating training for State staff and executives in response to the Governor’s executive order on Generative AI, the CalAcademy Training Program will formally launch in spring 2024. 

Since the initial data strategy, ODI completed a scan of data literacy efforts across the State to inform our approach and understand existing gaps in data literacy. ODI now has a mechanism to develop and deliver training that didn’t exist when the State published the first strategy. CalAcademy is an exciting program that offers more ways for ODI to help staff across California improve and maintain their data skills.

Key partners. Department training programs, CalHR

Objective 6. Data science and advanced analytics. Accelerate the adoption of ethical approaches to data science and advanced analytics.

Primarily Supports: Goal 3: Spur Data Use and Ability
Secondarily Supports: Goal 2: Improve Data Management

Data science and advanced analytics technologies have immense potential to enhance decision-making processes. By harnessing the power of data science and advanced analytics, State departments can gain deeper insights into public needs, assess the effectiveness of programs, and optimize resource allocation. This leads to more efficient and targeted service delivery, directly benefiting California residents. Further, data science enables predictive analytics, a powerful tool to help foresee and mitigate potential issues before they escalate.

While there is a great opportunity for departments to better leverage their data, it is often challenging to implement these technologies and employ best practices. ODI is addressing this challenge as follows: 

1. Direct services to departments: ODI provides direct services to departments funded through the DIF to expedite data science and advanced analytics solutions, currently engaging with five departments and planning future cohorts. The focus of these engagements is to:
   1. Help departments identify opportunities to effectively and ethically use their data to solve their most pressing data-related challenges;
   2. Work with departments to implement a solution that is effective and sustainable for the department; and
   3. Build staff capacity to interpret data, draw meaningful insights, and apply these insights to service delivery.
2. Publishing guidance and best practices: ODI plans to document and disseminate best practices from its direct service work, extending its impact beyond direct client work.
3. Communities of practice: ODI plans to convene State staff who are data scientists or aspiring data scientists to learn from each other.

Key partners. Department data leads and staff, department program leads and staff, department subject matter experts

Summary of Changes from the 2020 Data Strategy

Below is a brief summary of changes of strategic objectives from the 2020 data strategy.

Conclusion

This strategy outlines ODI’s commitment to transforming how California manages and uses data to better serve its residents. By streamlining data access, improving data management, governance, and encouraging the use of data, ODI hopes to exceed the expectations of our diverse and dynamic population.

ODI is committed to modernizing data infrastructure, championing effective use of data, and fostering ethical data governance. This is crucial for transparency, efficiency, and informed decision-making.

ODI recognizes that the landscape of data and technology is ever-evolving. ODI is committed to continuously adapting and improving our strategies, learning from our successes and challenges, and collaborating across departments and agencies.

This strategy is a roadmap for a future where data empowers every facet of State governance, driving better decisions, services, and outcomes for all Californians. ODI is dedicated to unlocking the full potential of data for the prosperity and well-being of our State and its residents.

Appendices

A. Documents Reviewed

A non-exhaustive list of documents reviewed to inform the strategy.

• Blueprint for Delivering Results in State Government, Results for America
• 2019 Invest in What Works State Standard of Excellence, Results for America
• Connecticut State Data Plan
• Oregon Draft Data Strategy
• Canada’s 2023–2026 Data Strategy for the Federal Public Service
• North Carolina’s Government Data Analytics Center (GDAC) Annual Report
• State of Indiana Data Strategy
• Government of the District of Columbia’s Chief Data Officer Annual Report 2020
• Data Strategy and Roadmap For New Zealand
• The Evolving Role of the State Chief Data Officer: A Framework for Today, Beeck Center
• How States Use Data to Inform Decisions, the Pew Charitable Trusts
• The Federal Government Data Maturity Model
• Many documents from the Australian Government with a wealth of forward thinking, including the Office of the National Data Commissioner
• 2024 Data and AI Leadership Executive Survey
• Data Sharing and Analytics Governance Structure for the Commonwealth of Virginia
• Federal Data Strategy

1. Read the full research in the 2020 strategy ↩︎
2. Convened by the Beeck Center at Georgetown University ↩︎
3. Read the full 2020 strategy ↩︎