Welcome to the State Department’s Enterprise Data Council
The bipartisan Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act (Evidence Act) of 2018 provides federal agencies a set of requirements for making data accessible and useful for decision-making. In addition to promoting data accessibility and enabling responsible data use, the Evidence Act requires agencies to emphasize strong agency coordination for the strategic use of data, including designating Evaluation Officers, Statistical Officials and Chief Data Officers to support and implement Federal evidence-building activities, open government data, and confidential information protection and statistical efficiency.
The strategic framework for proper oversight and decision-making over the Department’s critical data assets will be executed by the Enterprise Data Council (EDC). The EDC provides executive oversight, strategic vision, and decision-making regarding the Department’s critical data assets in order to facilitate data-informed insights and analysis. The EDC will also drive the State Department’s Data and Analytics Agency Priority Goal (APG) of Data Informed Diplomacy, which aims to advance an enterprise data and analytics capability that enables cross-functional continuous insights, timely and transparent reporting, and evidence-based decision making at the Department of State. By Sept 2021, align and augment a data and analytics cadre that can harness data and apply cutting-edge analytics processes and products to foreign policy and operational challenges, and fulfill the requirements of the Federal Data Strategy to include building the first Department Data Strategy and enterprise Data Catalog.
Chaired by the Chief Data Officer, the EDC brings together high-level stakeholders from across each the Department’s organizational families, including (1) members who represent the business of the Department and make strategic decisions regarding data, (2) advisors and subject matter experts to provide consultation and additional information to assist decision-making (3) additional roles named in the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policy Act of 2018, i.e. Statistical Official and Evaluation Officer. The EDC does not supersede any of the Bureau-level analytic data cells that exist currently. Instead the EDC’s efforts will empower those data cells and offices through access to a collaborative framework, tools, and resources. The EDC meets at least quarterly, or more often as needed.
In addition to the Evidence Act, the EDC oversees the implementation of the Federal Data Strategy 2020 Action Plan. The 2020 Action Plan outlines requirements for agencies to establish processes, build capacity, and align existing efforts to better leverage data as a strategic asset. Agency Action 2: Constitute a Diverse Data Governance Body calls for agencies to publish agency data governance materials, including the EDC Charter, meeting cadence and membership. These materials are shared below.
The following senior agency officials lead the EDC’s efforts to implement the laws above and support the necessary cross-office and cross-agency coordination:
Evidence Act Officials:
- Chief Data Officer: Dr. Matthew Graviss
- Evaluation Officers: Taryn Lovelace and Tanya Kabel-Ballard
- Statistical Official: Amy Ritualo
Enterprise Data Council Charter [501 KB]