The concept of leveraging data as a strategic asset-a central tenet of the President's Management Agenda-is not some lofty ideal. It's a necessity. The opioid crisis is a perfect example. The severity of the crisis became apparent only after people began crunching the data, and that same data will provide the parameters for any effort to mitigate the crisis.

Similar scenarios are playing out across government, as agencies realize the many ways which data is essential to their ability to achieve their goals. But data-driven decision making is still a work in progress. This event, the first in our four-part IT Enterprise Sprint, will discuss the current state of data initiatives, the potential benefits to be realized and the work that needs to be done.

Potential topics include:

• The opioid crisis and the impact on data initiatives
• Key mission areas in which data could provide critical insights
• Current challenges to leveraging data where solutions are needed