A 2021 Executive Order established Maryland’s Chief Data Officer charged with developing new statewide data-governance strategies and leading a group of agency-level data leads. The CDO, along with the Chief Privacy Officer, operate in the governor’s office as a centralized function for statewide data activities, including oversight of use and management of data across a variety of state units and leveraging data to inform policy decisions through a statewide strategic data plan, among other roles and responsibilities.

The Executive Order also established agency data officers to support the stewardship and coordination of data in agencies across the state. The Executive Order also requires the agency data officers to convene on a monthly basis to share best practices, gather input and advice from experts and practitioners, report to the State Chief Data Officer, and support development and implementation of the State Data Strategic Plan. The Executive Order attenuates that the CDO shall work with various offices, including the Governor’s Office of Performance Improvement, for the purposes of improving operational efficiency and efficacy.

Within Maryland state agencies, there are several other governance councils to support data management activities at the agency and program level:

• The MD THINK Committee as a unit under the Governor’s Executive Council, known as the Governor’s Cabinet to sets policy, objectives, and priorities for, and governs the portfolio data, platform technology assets, and MD THINK enterprise.
• Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT)’s Data Governance Council, responsible for advising and monitoring data initiatives across the business units within the agency.