The comedian Steven Wright asks, “If you saw a heat wave, would you wave back?” PhD Systems Engineer Matthew Graviss doesn’t just wave back, he moves in and takes over. Joining the State Department during the COVID-19 pandemic as its first Chief Data Officer, he immediately blazed a trail by developing the agency’s first-ever enterprise data strategy. The framework lays out how the agency will harness the power of data as a tool for diplomacy in both routine operations and times of crisis. He’s responsible for making data accessible, interoperable, and actionable. He also serves as the Managing Director for the Office of Management Strategy and Solution’s Center for Analytics (CfA), which aims to imbue the department with a data-focused culture and corresponding talent, advance data governance, expand analytics capability, and modernize data technology solutions.
He served at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for over 13 years moving to State from his position as CDO for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Beyond that, he gained tremendous experience at the Transportation Security Administration, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the Office of Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction. Understanding the many uses and challenges to data management, his passion for collaborating across large organizations to maximize the value of their data assets is just the managed burn State needs.