By Janice deGarmo
Business and policy leaders today increasingly turn to analytics for help in solving their most complex problems. In an age of information overload, only those who can leverage data as a strategic asset can win. The Department of State took its first step in building a new era for data-informed diplomacy by launching the Center for Analytics (CfA).
In January, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the establishment of CfA as the Department’s official enterprise data and analytics hub. CfA transforms data into bold insights to help more than 75,000 Department employees—from the action-level to the Secretary—make better foreign policy and management decisions to achieve America’s diplomatic mission. Led by the Department’s first-ever chief data officer, CfA leads data management and analytics efforts and outfits employees with the latest tools, training, and technologies.
“Data for Diplomacy 2020” marked the organization’s official launch with an event that brought together data analytics leaders across State, the interagency, and industry to illuminate the state of analytics in foreign policy and the path ahead, Jan. 16. More than 500 attendees discovered how the U.S. government and leading analytics companies are assessing global phenomena through the lens of analytics.
Under Secretary for Management Brian Bulatao detailed how data analytics is enabling the Department to swiftly understand, react to, and predict ever-changing world dynamics. The “Leveraging Analytics in Government and Beyond” panel then took center stage with Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Michelle Giuda who lead panelists from the Executive Office of the President, Department of Veterans Affairs, Central Intelligence Agency, and the Department through a conversation about breakthrough uses of analytics in the U.S. government and what the future holds. Following the panel, attendees were able to get hands-on experience with analytics products from across the Department, interagency, and industry.
“We know that data will not only help the Department of State run more efficiently, but it can also move us toward more effective and stronger evidence-based foreign policy,” said Bulatao at the event. The establishment of the Department’s first enterprise-wide data analytics organization is a strategic milestone for U.S. foreign policy.
Janice deGarmo is the acting chief data officer.
