Adita Karkera Leaves Arkansas Data Office to Join Deloitte

Adita Karkera is leaving her post as deputy chief data officer for the state of Arkansas to join the global consultancy Deloitte.

Karkera worked for the state’s IT department for more than 20 years, beginning as a contract worker in 2000 before she was tapped to help Arkansas’ budding IT data efforts in 2017. At Deloitte, she will be a “distinguished data and AI architect” and will seek to help federal and state government chief data officers in their work.

Government Technology named Karkera to its Top 25 Doers, Dreamers and Drivers list in 2021. While serving as deputy CDO, she helped put in place data officers in state agencies, convene a data governance committee and inventory Arkansas’ data assets.

She also served as a member of the state’s COVID-19 Technical Advisory Board, helping to find technology that would be useful during the pandemic.

“Adita’s deep experience in data as Arkansas’s deputy CDO and her credibility in the community as a trusted advisor and innovator makes her a tremendous addition to our CDO advisory services team,” said Jason Manstof, who lead’s Deloitte’s strategy and analytics practice, in a press release. “The role of data and data officers has never been more critical to improvising citizen services and protecting critical information.”

Karkera will also serve as a fellow in Deloitte’s AI Institute for Government, which is focused on research, communication and problem-solving when it comes to the use of new AI-powered technology in the public sector.

Aside from consulting, Deloitte has a long history of managing technology projects in U.S. government, particularly at the state level.