Ken Boykin, an information security manager for the state’s Department of Labor, will take up the post on Oct. 31.
In doing so, Boykin will be filling a post that “has been vacant for some time,” according to an announcement from state CIO Fred Brittain. He will be the second person to hold the title, after former CDO Youri Antonin left in November 2019.
As CDO, Boykin will be charged with developing the state’s data governance program “to improve consistency, integrity, privacy and availability of data,” Brittain said. This program is intended to underpin state efforts to improve digital services for residents and harness data to better inform decision-making.
Boykin also brings a broad skill set to the role, according to Brittain.
“In his previous experience, Ken has led and managed business turnaround and transformation efforts for federal and state governments, as well as global, national and local businesses, including several very large-scale data management initiatives,” Brittain said in the announcement. “Ken possesses an extensive background in various business functions including operations, technology, information risk management, regulatory compliance, auditing, and portfolio and program management to name a few.”
Chief data officers play a significant role as states gather and manage more data.
At the 2018 NASCIO conference, GovTech caught up with then-state CDO Antonin. He spoke about the challenges that come with working across a decentralized government structure and his goal of building a strong data governance framework that could “satisfy every agency’s internal controls,” thus allowing for more data sharing. Antonin also spoke at the time about the importance of ensuring digital transformations improve experiences for both internal stakeholders and residents. He served as CDO from 2018-2019, according to his LinkedIn.
