The Chief Data Officer position, created by a 2017 law, leads the state’s efforts to improve data use, infrastructure, and security. In 2023 Arkansas named the state’s new Chief Data Officer (CDO). A 2019 Arkansas law created the Data-Sharing and Data-Driven Decision-Making Task Force “to implement a shared services model for statewide data sharing in order to drive innovation and facilitate efficiency across state agencies, improve the delivery of services, and to better serve the citizens of this state.” The CDO has led the development of the Arkansas data asset inventory system, Data and Transparency Panel, and cultivated statewide data culture and data literacy.
In 2021 and 2022, the Arkansas Division of Workforce Services used a tiered evidence framework to allocate funds through its AmeriCorps Arkansas program. This program requires evidence of effectiveness for proposed services and defines such evidence by referencing the AmeriCorps Evidence Exchange. In 2022 the program specified that evidence of effectiveness represented a meaningful share of the points awarded within its “Program Design” rating category (worth 50% of total points). Applicants were encouraged to use interventions assessed as having ‘Moderate’ or ‘Strong’ tiered evidence, and to use the Mandatory Supplemental Guidance offered that further defined evidence of effectiveness.