UPDATED 10:21 EDT / AUGUST 26 2014

U.S. Transportation Dept. jumps into the federal CDO craze

Dan Morgan CDO of DOTThe public sector is taking the driver’s seat in embracing the emerging role of the chief data officer. The latest major federal institution to jump on the bandwagon is the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), which has appointed veteran technology leader Dan Morgan as its first CDO.

An engineer by trade, Morgan brings more than 12 years of experience to the position. He previously helped run the Group Open Government Community practice at PhaseOne Consulting Group Inc., a Virginia-based professional services provider contracted to support DOT’s Office of the CIO.

Prior to his four-year stint with the firm, Morgan worked as a manager for SensaSolutions Inc., a competing consultancy that likewise focuses on the public sector. Before that, he held similar roles positions at the U.S. Navy, RGS Associates, Inc. and Accenture plc.

Judging by the official job listing for the position, Morgan’s new gig could be his most challenging yet. As CDO, his responsibilities now encompass improving the accuracy of the vast amounts of data handled by the DOT, including all the sensitive personally identifiable details that flow through its systems every day. He is also tasked with breaking down the barriers between the silos in which that information is stored, a task made especially challenging by the highly distributed structure of the department, which maintains countless branch offices throughout the U.S., each of which maintains its own infrastructure.

Last but not least, Morgan is charged with helping the agency find better ways to make better use of its data. That makes him a key figure in the DOT’s plans to eventually have every vehicle and roadside object fitted with a specialized sensor for tracking key metrics such as location, trajectory, and inertia in real time. An exhaustive 327-page study released by the agency’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) earlier this week said that such technology could avoid as many as 592,000 crashes and save up to 1,083 lives every year. But the vision also raises privacy concerns that will have to be addressed before anything can come of it.

Morgan, who reports directly to DOT chief information officer Richard McKinney, is the newest member of a small but fast-growing group of government CDOs toiling away at removing the legacy baggage and bureaucracy clogging government today. His appointment comes hot on the heels of Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker announcing her agency’s plan to find its own CDO as part of an effort to streamline antiquated data collection processes and put a centralized information management framework in place.

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