The rise in the use of generative AI is driving an urgent need for data literacy training in state government, according to a new report from a national CIO organization.
The study stems from the 2023 State CIO Survey, and officials at the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) found some notable statistics. That means 84 percent of CIOs do not have a formal data literacy program in place for data literacy or proficiency. State employee.
NASCIO said it currently considers it “essential.” Data literacy within state government: Building a knowledgeable workforce that understands how to use data to make better decisions, announced Wednesday that all state government employees will be data literate. This is defined as having “command control over data management and an understanding that data is a critical state government asset.”
All state employees must have “certain minimum understanding of data.” Data quality. Officials said in the report that they have the ability to analyze data and gain insights, highlighting the vast potential of data to improve processes from routine operations to large-scale crisis management. did.
“Data literacy is an essential competency for all state governments, enabling everyone to better fulfill their roles in state government,” said Eric Sweden, Enterprise Architecture and Governance Program Director at NASCIO. said in a video press release about the report. “What we want are hard insights that can inform decision makers. These insights require quality data, and only if everyone has some degree of data literacy. You'll get quality data. As states pursue advanced technologies in artificial intelligence and generative AI, data quality will become even more important.”
NASCIO's report highlights the dangers associated with feeding dirty data into generative AI programs, including misallocated resources and lost money due to incorrect prioritization of efforts. He also mentions his two states where programs are being developed as potential resources for agencies that have not yet begun the data literacy training process.
The Texas Department of Information Resources has published online the eight-part Texas Data Literacy Program, which covers everything from what data literacy is to best practices for data ethics, privacy, security and sharing. The Indiana Management Performance Hub has created 16 lessons for Indiana's data proficiency program, combined with color-coded proficiency badges.
Beyond data literacy training, the report says, state and local government agencies should have an established data officer or data team that sets data governance standards for all departments within the agency to follow. suggests. It should also be combined with regular data audits to ensure data is clean, secure, and complete. And accurate.