In addition to plans to connect its testing labs and field offices to allow researchers and inspectors to communicate and analyze agency data, part of the Food and Drug Administration's 2016 strategy to improve its internal IT systems will be the hiring of a data officer, according to a Bloomberg report.
In October, the FDA released it IT Strategic Plan, which over the next three years will guide the reworking of its networks and IT systems. Todd Simpson, CIO for the FDA, told Bloomberg the organization has been wrestling with disjointed IT networks that don't efficiently communicate with one another, which complicates the processes of analyzing data for insights.
Hiring a data officer would ensure someone oversees the changes to the administration's IT infrastructure, enabling its data to be put to better use, Mr. Simpson told Bloomberg.