State of Hawaiʻi Enterprise Technology Services names new chief data officer

Rebecca Cai has been named to the critical role of chief data officer for the State of Hawai‘i Office of Enterprise Technology Services.

Cai is the first chief data officer for the state and will be essential to supporting evidence-based policy-making for the Green Administration.

The position supports the state’s chief information officer in overseeing a comprehensive state strategy to govern data capture, storage, maintenance, visualization, analysis, sharing, integration, and access that will drive transparency and customer satisfaction for the public.

“My administration has viewed evidence-based decision making as vital to setting good policy in many key areas including housing, health care, and previously our response to the Covid pandemic,” said Governor Josh Green, M.D. “Having Ms. Cai onboard is a major step forward in making decisions using the best data available.”

Cai most recently served as the chief data officer for New York State’s Office of Information Technology Services and has 24 years of digital, data, analytics, and decision intelligence experience in the private sector. She holds an master’s in business administration from the
University of South Carolina.

“In New York I was able to transform the role of CDO from Open Data only to include all data-related functions including data governance, master data management, open data, geospatial data services, data analytics and visualization, and AI,” said Cai. “We created a Data Strategy as well as a user-centric and impact-driven approach, and drafted AI guidelines.

“In Hawai‘i, I am planning to do more of the same. I am really excited about the responsible use of Generative AI and data/AI governance, especially about what value we can bring to the public with Data and AI together,” Cai added.

The chief data officer will work proactively with state organizations and external stakeholders to define priority business data needs and implement best practices that meet defined policies and standards.

“We are very happy to welcome Rebecca to Hawai‘i and to the ETS team,” said Doug Murdock, Hawaiʻi chief information officer. “Her experience and knowledge of the tools, techniques, and best practices will help us greatly to improve the delivery of data services and products to both government departments and to our residents.”