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Bits and Bytes Blog
2020 Year in Review
Wednesday, December 30, 2020
Last year was one wild year for the world, here's a look back at our own corner of chaos within the Office of Data Governance and Analytics.
In January 2020, there was just one - the Chief Data Officer for the Commonwealth of Virginia, Carlos Rivero. The following month, he hired a marketing student from VCU to begin building visibility around the work he had been doing for the last 18 months, that's when the buzz on social media began. The number of LinkedIn followers for Carlos nearly doubled and now we have our own Virginia Chief Data Officer LinkedIn Company page as well as Twitter so check it out and give us a follow!
In March 2020, the next team member joined, the Communications, Outreach and Engagement Manager. The first order of business? Establishing a brand identity for the Office of Data Governance and Analytics and the technology platforms supporting the mission of the office.
The new Bits and Bytes monthly Office of Data Governance and Analytics newsletter hit email boxes in April 2020 and includes...wait...you should just sign up to receive the next one!
Possibly the most rewarding work from the past year was being able to expand the Framework for Addiction Analysis and Community Transformation (FAACT) platform in a matter of days to guide leaders in combating COVID-19 through a state-wide lens of data, promoting data-driven decisions. Beginning in April, the almost real-time data and analytics delivered to Governor Ralph Northam and his team is what allowed the Commonwealth's ability to ask for resources where they were needed and order enough PPE.
June also proved to be a fruitful month, we launched this very website for ODGA, the Virginia Open Data Portal, and a web-based course for state employees on Data Governance in the Commonwealth of Virginia Learning Center - all within a week.
As we moved into the fall, the platform for restricted-use data sharing, DataSAGE, was launched and we've continued to add agencies and organizations to the Commonwealth Data Trust. With the momentum growing and all these moving parts, a new Deputy Chief Data Officer was hired to help manage operations.
In collaboration with the Library of Virginia, we produced the Virtual Virginia Datathon centered around the theme of Communities and COVID-19. There were over 130 participants and the solutions they built were captured on YouTube.
Carlos Rivero participated in 22 events, won 2 awards, was nominated for a third, and was featured in 17 media articles. That's a wrap. We're ready for what 2021 has in store!