Irene Vidyanti joined WaTech on March 15 as our new state Chief Data Officer (CDO), working within the Architecture and Innovation Division.
As the state CDO, Irene is responsible for transforming public service through the use of data. The position is responsible for statewide data strategy, enterprise data governance, and empowering the state's workforce to maximize the value of data on behalf of all Washingtonians.
"My priority is to create an enterprise data strategy for the state and, within that, create an enterprise data platform to enable a 360-degree view of the state, which fits in nicely with our connected government goal," Irene said, adding that "what draws me to public service is the opportunity to improve the lives of residents. Previously I was at Los Angeles County. I had a similar role there, in that my broad role was to drive data-driven decision-making within the county and ultimately improve the lives of the LA County residents. I am just really excited about the possibility of doing it in Washington state."
Before becoming LA County's Data and Analytics lead in 2019, Irene worked for five years as a data scientist for the Department of Public Health using analytics to forecast and communicate the health and economic effects of public policies and programs in Los Angeles County. Prior to working for the county, she worked as a program manager and research assistant at the University of Southern California.
Irene has a PhD in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the University of Southern California and a BA and M.Eng in Information and Computer Engineering from the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom. She also was a visiting scholar with the University of Southern California, Schaeffer Center School of Health Economics and an adjunct researcher with RAND Corporation.