Robert McGough was appointed as Chief Data Officer in March 2023. McGough has over 20 years of experience in data management and analytics, supporting public-sector entities through the Office of State Technology. He served as lead author on the Feasibility and Cost Study on the Development of a Statewide Data Warehouse Program and as the state’s technical liaison with the White House OMB for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

McGough holds an M.S. in Information Quality and has completed the UALR Institute for Chief Data Officers, the ASU Six Sigma Black Belt, and the Coleridge Initiative Applied Data Analytics programs, along with numerous credentials in data and analytics. He is currently an Information Science Ph.D. candidate conducting research to advance the field of longitudinal data analysis. He also serves on the Governor’s Technology Advisory Board and the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) IT committee.