The secretary may, notwithstanding section 45 of chapter 30 and chapter 31, appoint a qualified individual to serve as the chief data officer for the commonwealth, who shall serve at the pleasure of the secretary. Notwithstanding any general or special law, rule, regulation, executive order, policy or procedure to the contrary, the chief data officer shall develop administrative directives to govern the use, storage, collection, and dissemination of data assets for the executive department, and shall develop procedures for facilitating, where appropriate, resolution of disputes between or among agencies, departments, and executive offices regarding the use and sharing of data. The chief data officer shall have the role of promoting and facilitating, subject to all applicable federal and state laws, rules, and regulation, the sharing and use of data assets of the commonwealth in support of data-driven policymaking, research, analysis, study, or economic development.
Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 7D, § 4A