Denice Ross appointed as US chief data scientist by White House

Public interest expert Denice Ross has been named the next chief data officer of the United States. 

She joins the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and takes office immediately. In a blog post about his recruitment, Ross wrote, "The mission of the chief data officer of the United States is to responsibly unlock the potential of data for the benefit of all Americans." “I am very excited to get started and look forward to working with data innovators who are already working  at the federal, state, tribal, and local levels.” 

Federal Chief Data Scientists have a wide range of responsibilities, including ensuring a vision for maximum social impact from federal data, working with agencies to develop best practices for data management, and recruiting and retaining top data science talent for governments service. 

Ross joined the government at the National Citizenship Conference, where she served as a Senior Fellow at Beeck's Center for Social Outcome and Innovation, according to her LinkedIn. 

Ross was previously a data manager for the non-profit New America, and served for some time in government, serving as Chief Adviser to the Office of Management and Budget and the President's Innovation Scientist. 

The White House was appointed after the White House continued to search for a vacant Federal Bureau of Statistics director for nearly two years. 

Under the Evidence-Based Policy Development Act signed in 2018, federal agencies, along with other senior executives responsible for managing the department's data assets and adhering to data management best practices, are called the Chief Data Officer.

White House did not respond to a request for comment. 

In 2015, DJ Patil was appointed America's first Chief Data Scientist under the Obama administration in 2015, before stepping down with the inauguration of the Trump administration. Trump did not invite a chief data scientist during his presidency.