Ariga briefed National Press Foundation fellows in January 2022: How to Track Government Spending.

Taka Ariga is GAO’s first Chief Data Scientist and Director of the Innovation Lab. As an integral part of the Science, Technology Assessment and Analytics team, he helps GAO develop and implement advanced analytical capabilities for its auditing practices. Prior to joining GAO, he held executive positions at Deloitte, Ernst & Young and Booz Allen Hamilton, where he worked with audit, compliance, legal and regulated entities.

Ariga earned a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering from Johns Hopkins University. He is natively fluent in both Japanese and Mandarin Chinese. In his spare time, he is a serious amateur classical chamber musician (performing on cello throughout the Washington, D.C. region), as well as a competitive tennis player.