Barney Krucoff Named First Chief Data Officer of Washington, D.C.

On Aug. 3, the District of Columbia put a name behind the promise of a renewed data focus announced early this year. As of last June, Barney Krucoff became the district's new chief data officer, working under the Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO), which is responsible for leading D.C.'s commitment to expand data access for entrepreneurs and academia, and ultimately delivering insights that will assist government's missions of public health, transit and service delivery.

According to an official blog post introducing the new official, Krucoff will lead a team of 26 employees who worked together previously in an unofficial capacity as they were spread across the enterprise. The district "plays above its weight, leading to lots of opportunity to build upon what the city has already done," Krucoff said of D.C.'s potential in the realm of data.

Krucoff joined OCTO as the geographic information officer in 2004, joined the state of Maryland also as a geographic information officer in 2011, and then returned to D.C. for his present position.

In April, Government Technology featured D.C.'s work around tree management, which began as a query around a single data point and branched into a much broader application for government. Data, these days, seems to be on the mind of most forward-thinking government leaders.