How a Social Worker Became the Defense Logistics Agency’s First Chief Data and Analytics Officer – By Brandi Vincent (Nextgov) / April 8, 2022
Under her leadership the agency is ‘just starting’ to really understand what it means to apply data as a strategic asset.
This summer will mark Dr. Lindsey Saul’s one-year anniversary as the first-ever chief data and analytics officer at the Defense Logistics Agency, where a fresh and palpable cultural shift in how data is managed, perceived and used is gaining momentum.
“We have tons of data. I think a use case that we put forth recently didn’t include all of the data at DLA and it was already talking about a petabyte of data,” she explained. “The volume is huge and just really tapping into it and leveraging it, we’re not able to do to the fullest extent [yet].”
In a recent conversation with Nextgov, Saul reflected on her initial year in this new-of-a-kind federal role driving a modern, technology-centered transition within the agency. Among multiple topics, she discussed data-related obstacles her team is working to help the enterprise overcome, current initiatives to develop and mature data policies, and new pursuits and positions she’s introduced to help further DLA’s application of data as a strategic asset.
