Ken Pfeil, who was recently hired as Virginia's chief data officer, said he sees his new role "as a facilitator for making better decisions."

Ken Pfeil, who's been the CISO of several financial services firms, will lead the commonwealth's data analytics operations.

Krishnan, who started in the role Nov. 1, said he wants to build on the technology developments made by government over the last 18 months.

The two new officials in Gov. Larry Hogan's office are responsible for updating and implementing statewide policies and leading interagency working groups.

Ravi Krishnan, who has also been a data strategist, will succeed Dorman Bazzell, who was hired as the state's first data officer in 2018.

Gov. Larry Hogan also said the state will get guidance on data security from a "senior-level" National Security Agency analyst.

The new chief data officer will work out of City Hall, rather than the IT office, a switch government data gurus have argued for.

Jason Lally announced his departure on Friday after three years as the city's chief data officer and seven years with municipal government.

The city's chief data officer said the pandemic has served as "an accelerator" for Denver's data-driven initiatives.

California's new data strategy aims to bring relevant data sets from across the state government to agency officials working on problems ranging from homelessness to public health,…