Matthew Graviss
CDO & Managing Director, Center for Analytics, Office of Management Strategy and Solutions, State Department
Matthew Graviss joined the State Department during the COVID-19 pandemic and went to develop the agency’s first-ever enterprise data strategy. The framework lays out how the agency will use data as a tool for diplomacy in both routine operations and times of crisis.
“Recent global events demonstrate that, now more than ever, the department’s workforce needs timely, data-informed insights to make key mission and management decisions,” Graviss says.
The State Department’s Enterprise Data Council, chaired by Graviss, led the development of the strategy, which has four goals that address the most critical data management and enhancing enterprise data governance. Graviss says the cultivation of a data culture is critical to the strategy’s success.
To that end, CfA worked with partners in a first-of-its-kind, governmentwide data scientist hiring initiative to recruit talent to the State Department. CfA also expanded its partnership with the Foreign Service Institute, where over 2,200 employees participated in data literacy training.
Additionally, CfA developed Data.State, a departmentwide platform where employees leverage custom-built analytics products, access datasets and find tools for collaboration.
“The important work of our 3-year plan to implement the strategy is already underway,” Graviss says. “Our approach is mission-oriented, which allows us to bolster data and analytics efforts toward the department’s top priority issues.”