Title 42
State Affairs and Government

Chapter 165
Rhode Island Integrated Data System Act

§ 42-165-5. Governing board.

(a) Composition of board. The RIIDS “DATA RI” will be governed by the Rhode Island Integrated data system governing board (the board).

(1) The board shall be composed of:

(i) The director of the department of administration or designee;

(ii) The directors of any participating agencies as described in § 42-165-3 and § 42-165-6, or their designee;

(iii) The director of the office of management and budget or designee;

(iv) The chief digital officer or designee;

(v) The director of the center, as set forth in § 42-165-7;

(vi) The secretary of health and human services or designee who serves as one co-chair; and

(vii) The commissioner of postsecondary education or designee who serves as one co-chair.

(2) The board shall be overseen by two co-chairs. The co-chairs shall be responsible for overseeing and directing the policy duties and responsibilities of the board and overseeing, supervising, and directing the operational duties of the center and its personnel.

(b) Powers and duties. The board shall:

(1) In consultation with the center and the Ecosystem, and in accordance with federal and state privacy law, approve policies regarding how data requests from state and local agencies, the Rhode Island general assembly, universities, third-party researchers, and the public will be managed;

(2) In consultation with the center and the Ecosystem, approve policies regarding the publishing of reports and other information that should be available to public stakeholders;

(3) Approve standards implemented by the center and the Ecosystem for the security, privacy, access to, and confidentiality of data, including policies to comply with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-42-38, 20 C.F.R. § 603.1 et seq., and any other privacy measures, as required by law, state policy, or the board;

(4) Perform other functions that are necessary to ensure the successful continuation, management, and expansion of the RIIDS;

(5) Establish a data governance committee to work with the center and Ecosystem on an ongoing basis to among other responsibilities, approve data requests;

(6) Oversee and collaborate with the data governance committee, the Ecosystem and the center as set forth in § 42-165-7;

(7) Serve as the single governing board for the RILDS and the Ecosystem;

(8) Set the strategic direction for RIIDS to ensure it:

(i) Improves transparency and public accessibility of data, including increasing the availability of dashboards, plain language summaries; public data catalogs of research and reports;

(ii) Enhances data availability for internal state use, ensuring data is accessible to state analysts to conduct broad analysis of state programs, thereby improving the state’s understanding of the operation and impact of its programs; and

(iii) Improves data availability for external researchers. Data shall be made available to researchers to the greatest extent possible limited to allow evidence-based improvements to state programs; and

(9) The center or the Ecosystem is considered to be an agent of the executive state agency sharing government information for a particular data project and is an authorized receiver of government information under the statutory or administrative law that governs the government information. Interagency data sharing under this chapter does not constitute a disclosure or release under any statutory or administrative law that governs the government information.