Office of Enterprise Technology Services

Rebecca Cai has been named to the critical role of Chief Data Office for the State of Hawai‘i Office of Enterprise Technology Services (ETS). Cai is the first CDO for the state and will be essential to supporting evidence-based policy making for the Green Administration.

“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 MBA 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 Data Strategy as well as 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.”

The position supports the state’s Chief Information Officer (CIO) 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.

“We are very happy to welcome Rebecca to Hawai‘i and to the ETS team,” said Hawai‘i CIO Doug Murdock. “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.”

The CDO 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.

“I really love the people and the sense of Aloha in Hawai‘i,” said Cai. “I see many opportunities where I can create impacts as the first CDO to drive transparency and customer satisfaction through data.”