Data Literacy Is the Most Important Building Block for Data Strategy

Kim Weis, Chief Data Officer at North Dakota Information Technology, speaks with Bob Audet, Partner, Digital Solutions - Data at Guidehouse, in a video interview about the impact of data literacy on the statewide data strategy and how state agencies can initiate their data literacy programs.

Speaking about the impact of data literacy on realizing the statewide data strategy, Weis says that having been an epidemiologist, she already had a good understanding of data and its value. As she moved through her career across agencies and other program areas, she worked with talented people successful in their chosen career fields, but data literacy often wasn't a part of their formal education or professional development program.

Weis states that data literacy is a requirement for every role across the data life cycle. Data creators need to understand their role and why data quality is so important. Similarly, the executive leadership needs to understand how to use data.

Investing in data education and awareness wasn't prioritized by organizations earlier in Weis’ career as they viewed data from a transactional perspective. As analytics and strategic use of data started taking shape, it heightened the need for data education. Weis even mentions data literacy as the single most important foundational building block for any data strategy.

Watch the full interview below.