Florida’s Data-Driven Future

A lot of public-sector work is “unromantic,” as Florida CIO Eric Larson puts it. But so often it’s that behind-the-scenes effort that creates real change in the way government works both internally and for citizens.

At the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) Midyear conference in Baltimore last week, Larson talked to Government Technology about what the state has planned for moving forward with its data collection and analysis,including appointing a chief data officer, building a data catalog and creating a governance structure around all that available information.

“And of course, the Legislature is interested in the ultimate outcome, which is an open data portal,” Larson said. “But in order to get to understanding what data you can release, you have to understand what data you can’t release, and to go through all the unromantic parts of managing the data.”