Dive Brief:

• Utah CIO Mark VanOrden said he is working to push a Big Data initiative he started through before retiring later this year, the Wall Street Journal reports.
• The project is designed to make it easier for businesses and citizens to work with public data.
• The project is modeled after Big Data initiatives in Michigan and Indiana.

Dive Insight:

Over the past three years, VanOrden has led efforts to create an online interface with state agencies that would make data currently siloed in incompatible formats shareable across 22 separate cabinet-level agencies.

VanOrden said he plans to get a proposal on Gov. Herbert’s desk by mid-October that would secure funding for the project in next year’s state budget.

“There are a lot of things to spend money on,” VanOrden said. “But it’s time for the state of Utah to get into Big Data. We need to make it easier for business and residents to work with state governments,” he said.

VanOrden plans to retire on November 12 after 30 years in state government IT.