Data is increasingly one of the most valuable assets entrusted to the State of Oregon. However, it must be managed strategically in order to realize its value. Oregon’s State Data Strategy is a tool designed to help State agencies within the Executive Branch better utilize, manage, govern, use and share the data assets they create and maintain on behalf of Oregonians.
Longstanding principles to guide how the state views, manages, and sets objectives around its data
Practices for how the state approaches data and acts based upon our identified data principles.
Identified actions for agencies and the Chief Data Office to uphold the principles and practices of the Oregon Data Strategy.
About the State Data Strategy
The intent of the data strategy is to ensure that agencies are consistent in how they treat and manage data across the enterprise and to create efficiencies and process improvements for how state agencies are currently managing data. The strategy also provides a consistent framework and timeless aspirational principles and practices that agencies can use to guide their actions in managing, utilizing, and sharing data.
Oregon’s Chief Data Officer (CDO), recently established pursuant to ORS 276a.350-374, is responsible for the development of Oregon’s Data Strategy The CDO convened an advisory group with representation from Executive Branch agencies, along with facilitation and IT consulting services support from Gartner, to work towards creation of the state data strategy.
The timeline and methodology for Oregon’s strategy is closely based on the development of the first ever Federal Data Strategy. The Chief Data Officer has formed an advisory group with representation from a diversity of state agencies and policy areas, including the Department of Transportation, Department of Education, Oregon Health Authority, the Oregon Employment Department, Oregon Youth Authority, and Oregon State Marine Board. These agencies were selected to represent a range of service areas, agency sizes and budgets, and data needs.
The Chief Data Officer Advisory Group has met consistently with facilitation and support from Gartner to develop principles and practices, and is releasing a draft version of both the Data Principles and Identified Data Practices for public comment and suggestion. These draft principles and practices are the backbone of the State’s Data Strategy, and will inform creation of an action plan for how the State will work to leverage data as a strategic asset.
The Oregon State Data Strategy is being developed through an iterative process, with opportunities for the public, state agencies, and all interested constituents to provide feedback. The three phases include the following:
Phase 1
(Completed August 24)– Release of Draft Mission/Vision, Practices and Principles and solicit feedback on these components. Collect all feedback and use to finalize Mission/Vision, Practices, and Principles for the Phase 2 draft. Dates: July 6 - August 24
Phase 2 (Completed December 15)– Finalize the Mission/Vision, Practices and Principles and use these components to build a 1-3 year Action Plan and solicit public feedback on the Action Plan to develop the final State Data Strategy. Dates: October 26 - December 15, 2020
Phase 3 – Develop final Oregon State Data Strategy based upon feedback in Phase 2. Release final strategy publically. Released February 1, 2021.
The final version of the Data Strategy was published February 1, 2021.
Comments or questions about the Data Strategy can be emailed to Oregon.DATA@oregon.gov
Oregon's Data Principles
1. Govern: Manage data as a strategic asset for the public good
2. Leverage: Use the State’s data to improve the lives of Oregonians through effective and efficient government
3. Protect: Preserve the privacy, quality,and integrity of the data we hold in trust
4. Share: Promote responsible data sharing across agencies and with external partners, including the public
5. Plan: Be intentional in our collection and use of data and design with equity and the future in mind
6. Engage: Embrace data justice in how we collect, use, and share data for the communities we serve
7. Show: Model transparency in our work to educate others about our data assets and how they are used and seek to build feedback loops between the State and our constituents
8. Learn: Promote a statewide culture of learning and collaboration in the use and analysis of data
9. Autonomize: Educate data leaders within our organization and enable all individuals to use data appropriately, ethically, and effectively
10. Lead: Establish structures for accountability and responsibility for the management of our data for all people we serve
Oregon's Data Practices
- Establish and sustain data governance within State agencies to manage data throughout its lifecycle
- Build data governance within policy areas and across shared business functions
- Create a holistic approach to data governance that incorporates related policy areas such as data classification, data retention, and information management
- Inventory and identify high-value and mission-critical data assets within the State's possession
- Conduct an organizational assessment of the State's current data governance maturity
- Recognize the value of data beyond the initial purpose for which it was collected and work to identify new and innovative ways to use data to improve decision-making, program design and program outcomes
- Contextualize our data through the creation and dissemination of data documentation and templates; e.g., data dictionaries, schemata, and standards
- Implement, adopt, and create equitable shared data standards whenever possible to facilitate use and data sharing both internally and externally
- Build policies and guidelines to safeguard data quality, integrity, and authenticity within agency data governance programs
- Ensure agencies have the necessary policies and procedures in place to manage access to critical data and maintain confidentiality
- Establish centralized privacy guidelines to improve data sharing and protect confidentiality
- Acknowledge and work to overcome organizational barriers to data sharing within and amongst agencies and State partners
- Facilitate inter-agency coordination and data sharing to identify shared solutions to common concerns and program objectives and to better utilize data resources
- Facilitate data sharing across all levels of government, including local, tribal, regional, and federal government agencies
- Center data justice, equity and accountability in how we collect, maintain, and use data throughout its lifecycle
- Establish feedback loops between communities and the State to better listen to and incorporate the voices of underrepresented communities regarding the State's data practices
- Preserve data according to State and federal records retention and security requirements
- Implement data minimization to collect only relevant and necessary data
- Adopt and build with open standards wherever possible to ensure interoperability and portability
- Incorporate data architecture planning and practices consistently into planning for IT projects
- Acknowledge and clearly communicate the biases, challenges, and limitations of our data and identify visibility and representation as fundamental to data quality
- Recognize that data contains biases and work to clearly document and establish plans to mitigate bias within the data we maintain and in how we use data to make decisions
- Build the State's open data architecture and program to create a culture of proactive transparency to better connect the public with government data
- Create a statewide community of practice around the definition, identification, and stewardship of authoritative data sources
- Explore new platforms for data sharing and integration, with a focus on automated data pathways
- Provide the ability for/access to analytics platforms or data presentation and visualization layers to enable equitable and meaningful analysis
- Advocate for the use of data throughout each State agency and facilitate data-informed and equitable decision-making in all agencies
- Build a data literacy program and training that allows for upskilling of employees in the equitable and effective use and management of data
- Establish frameworks for cross-agency collaboration and data integration to solve shared challenges
- Encourage the use of visualization and communication tools to share insights from our data to a wide range of audiences across a variety of access needs
- Pursue sustainable funding mechanisms and data investments to support data utilization across all agencies
- Focus on data-informed decision making in data resources and training
- Utilize the Chief Data Office to enhance data collaboration and coordination at the enterprise level
- Develop policies and procedures to guide how agencies establish authority structures for managing data
- Build guidance and promising practices for data architecture, data rationalization, and other data planning activities
- Seek to reduce duplication of effort where possible to increase efficiency around the development and use of data
State Data Strategy Comments Received - Phase 2
Comment period for this portion is October 26, 2020 - December 15, 2020
Comments Sync daily at 5pm
Comments Submitted via email (Oregon.Data@oregon.gov)
Foundations for a Better Oregon Public Comments on Oregons Data Strategy.pdf
OCHIN Oregon Data Strategy Public Comments.pdf
ORRAI Oregon Data Strategy Public Comments.pdf
State Data Strategy Comments Received - Phase 1
Comment period for this portion is July 6, 2020 - August 24, 2020
Comments Submitted via email (Oregon.Data@oregon.gov)
DRAFT-Oregon-State-Data-Strategy-20200619_HambeltonComments.pdf
FW_ Oregon Data Strategy - Public Comment and Feedback period.pdf
DRAFT-Data-Strategy-20200619_ODFW.pdf
data_strategy_comments_ORRAI_24Aug.pdf
Comments Submitted via Google Form