Ian Kalin began working as Chief Data Officer at the U.S. Commerce Department in March 2015. As Commerce’s first-ever Chief Data Officer, Ian is responsible for developing and implementing a vision for the future of the diverse data resources at Commerce. He works with all 12 Commerce bureaus to unlock more data that help support a data-driven Department and economy.

Prior to joining the Commerce Department, Ian worked in the private sector supporting large organizations like Google, as a Special Consultant on Civic Data, and start-ups like Socrata, as their Director of Open Data, in business efforts to help governments modernize their data and transparency programs.  In these roles, Ian helped over 150 governments to improve the quality of the diverse services they deliver.

Ian started his career in the U.S. Navy as a Counter-Terrorism Officer and later as a nuclear engineer. After the Navy, Ian was an executive at PowerAdvocate, where he supported over $30 billion of power plant and transmission line construction. He was later recruited by the White House as one of the first Presidential Innovation Fellows, where he helped support national open data policies and programs. Ian also spearheaded the U.S. Energy Data Initiative, which works to unlock data from public and private sectors to ignite entrepreneurship.  

Ian has a Bachelor of Science degree from Georgetown University and a Masters in Engineering Management from Old Dominion University.  He has also received awards from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and the Department of Energy for his work on civic innovation.  Ian’s wife is a successful investment professional.