NASCIO Honors Three Public Servants with State Technology Innovator Award

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LOUISVILLE, Ky., Tuesday, October 11, 2022 —The National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) presented the State Technology Innovator Award to three deserving public servants during the NASCIO 2022 Annual Conference. The NASCIO State Technology Innovator Award honors outstanding state government employees who have made contributions to advance state technology policy through the promotion of best practices, adoption of new technologies and advancements in service delivery. Nominations were gathered from NASCIO members and selected by the NASCIO Executive Committee.

The following are the recipients of the 2022 NASCIO State Technology Innovator Award:

Luke Charde
Head of User Experience Design and Web Content Management
Innovation and Engineering Services
New York State Office of Information Technology Services

Luke leads New York State’s efforts to implement automated language translation services for state agency websites. In this role, Luke works with 53 separate agencies to implement these services, which will support the 12 most common non-English languages in New York State. In working on this project, Luke has utilized a translation management system to deliver on these goals and even identified additional resources for instances where translations must be confirmed through non-automated means. The transformation that Luke is leading will promote diversity and have a positive impact on many more New Yorkers who will now have access to information and state services they previously had difficulty accessing.

Sean Hughes
Assistant Secretary for Technology, Services and Operations and COO
Massachusetts Executive Office of Technology Services and Security

Sean Hughes is driving innovation and improving the constituent digital experience for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In his role with the Executive Office of Technology Services and Security, Sean is leading the transformation and consolidation of Massachusetts’ current IT infrastructure to one secure and reliable network. From hardware to network security, Sean and his team are working to update and enhance current technologies while researching and adopting new technologies in the ever-changing environment. Sean is responsible for the transformation and consolidation of over 13 data centers into one high-availability center that provides 24x7x365 coverage to law enforcement agencies across the Massachusetts; the deployment of a statewide public safety broadband network; the day-to-day operations of the Commonwealth’s Criminal Justice Information System law enforcement data network and enterprise computing system; taking a multi-faceted approach to a hybrid cloud system; assisting agencies to replace legacy solutions and modernize applications; and implementing a resilient, scalable and secure enterprise technology framework.

Ashley Laymon
Customer Experience Officer
Maryland Department of Information Technology

As the Chief Experience Officer for the Maryland Department of Information Technology, Ashley’s office is the driving force behind the state’s goal of minimizing IT redundancy, reducing overall IT costs, driving business value for customer agencies, promoting modernization and ensuring compliance with state IT policies and standards. When Ashley joined the department in 2019, she made it one of her main goals to reshape the way that the department interacted with its customer agencies and other government entities. She has done this by increasing communication and feedback and hosting regular open dialogue sessions with IT leadership and other agencies. Ashley has also implemented a special request management process which provides a more holistic view of IT needs across organizations. The goal of the program is to mitigate risk, reduce redundant solutions, increase efficiencies and decrease costs statewide while helping to provide Marylanders with services they need more efficiently and effectively.

To view past recipients, please visit www.NASCIO.org/awards.

NASCIO Contact

Meredith Ward
Director of Policy and Research
National Association of State Chief Information Officers
859.514.9209
[email protected]

Cybersecurity Survey of State CISOs Identifies Many Positive Trends

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While talent challenges overshadow budgetary concerns, and whole-of-government efforts accelerate

LOUISVILLE, Ky., Oct. 11, 2022 — The National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) and Deloitte today released their 2022 Cybersecurity Study, “State Cybersecurity in a Heightened Risk Environment.” The survey captures responses from chief information security officers (CISOs) in all 50 states and three territories about current cybersecurity trends, challenges and opportunities.

The survey found that state CISOs throughout the U.S. gained considerable strength and authority over the past few years, as they rapidly migrated government operations and services to a virtual environment and expedited digital transformations to meet the immediate needs of individuals and families. Due to the dedicated efforts of these CISOs, state agencies were able to continue providing high-quality service to their constituents, despite the challenges imposed by a global pandemic.

Additional highlights from the 2022 Deloitte/NASCIO survey include:

  • Addressing the talent gap: In 2022, the demand for high-skilled workers has grown even more acute for public and private sector employers. In this environment, the lack of cybersecurity professionals and other staff remains among the top five barriers cited by state CISOs.
    • Despite CISOs’ growing responsibilities and the increasing sophistication of both technology and threats, headcounts for state cybersecurity professionals remain about the same as in 2020, and more than 6 in 10 CISOs report gaps in competencies among their staffs.
  • Embracing the entire state: It is an imperative to provide for greater security across the entire state through a tighter collaboration with local governments and state higher education institutions. CISOs made significant progress in enhancing their stature and visibility at the state executive and legislative levels, and they are continuing to get the institutional support and resources they need.
    • All 50 states now have a CISO, and many are establishing new positions for chief privacy officers, chief risk officers and identity program directors.
    • More state legislators are codifying the role of the CISO into state law and funding the position. They are also codifying several cyber initiatives into state law, such as enterprise risk management frameworks, cybersecurity legislative councils and cybersecurity training.
    • More states now require CISOs to provide periodic reports to senior state officials, such as the governor, legislature and agency secretaries.
    • CISOs are looking to establish and activate a shared security services approach to enable a whole-of-state approach to protecting local governments and public higher education institutions.
  • Emerging technologies present new opportunities: In the post-pandemic digital landscape, CISOs have an even more critical role to play in guiding the evaluation and implementation of new technologies.
    • State CISOs confirm that many applications have migrated to the cloud. With remote work, digital and mobile platforms have become part of the fabric of daily life by which people work, communicate and transact.
    • States have taken a big step forward to provide digital identities for citizen services. Capabilities, such as cloud computing, artificial intelligence and robotic process automation, enable states to further enhance digital modernization in service of their missions and constituents.

“State CISOs played critical roles helping the country successfully navigate the twists and turns of the pandemic, and this year’s survey identifies the steps needed to grow this increasingly public role and meet the current and future challenges faced by state agencies,” said Meredith Ward, director of policy and research at NASCIO and a co-author of the 2022 Deloitte-NASCIO Cybersecurity Study. “We’re proud to again bring the perspectives of state CISOs to the forefront of conversations around cybersecurity.”

“The complexity of cyber challenges that the state CISOs tackle is increasing with the need to take a whole-of-state approach involving multiple jurisdictions and stakeholders,” said Srini Subramanian, principal, Deloitte & Touche LLP, and Deloitte’s global risk advisory leader for government and public services. “To address these challenges, state CISOs are increasingly laying the groundwork to adopt emerging technologies, promoting more collaboration with local government agencies and higher education institutions, upskilling state employees and transforming employment practices to attract the next-generation of highly capable cyber talent.”

Additional takeaways from the 2022 Deloitte-NASCIO survey include:

  • Thirty states increased their cybersecurity budgets from 2021 to 2022. And for the first time, CISOs report that a handful of states are allocating more than 10% of their IT budgets to cybersecurity, in alignment with federal government levels. However, most states still only allocate between 2% and 10% of their budgets to cybersecurity efforts.
  • Many state CISOs identified the drafting and implementation of the Zero Trust framework as a key initiative.
  • CISOs say that malware, ransomware and phishing attempts continue to present security challenges. Concern among CISOs about foreign state-sponsored espionage has also risen significantly, while the perceived threat from third parties and social engineering has declined.
  • CISOs found that the three leading causes of cyber incidents remain web applications, malicious code and financial fraud. However, CISOs note a rise in cyber incidents involving foreign state-sponsored espionage, zero-day attacks and attacks against cloud platforms.
  • Nearly one-third of state CISOs say that state agencies manage cyber incidents on their own, rather than working with a central state IT security group.
  • CISOs are increasingly contracting cybersecurity professionals and states are demonstrating more interest in outsourcing specific cybersecurity functions to managed service providers. In fact, more than half of CISOs report outsourcing security operations center tasks, which require 24×7 monitoring, and more than 60% of CISOs report having confidence in the cybersecurity services of third-party vendors.
  • State CISOs are starting to incorporate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices, such as designating a DEI leadership position or teams to foster a culture of inclusion. However, many CISOs say they do not know if they have such practices in place.

NASCIO Contact

Meredith Ward
Director of Policy and Research
National Association of State Chief Information Officers
859.514.9209
[email protected]

State CIOs Focus on People First in Meeting Current and Future IT Demands

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LOUISVILLE, Ky., Wednesday, October 10, 2022 —The National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) and Grant Thornton Public Sector LLC, recently acquired by Guidehouse, released today the 2022 State CIO Survey, The People Imperative. The report examines key issues related to critical success factors for the state CIO, workforce, enterprise portfolio management and others. The state CIO survey, published annually for the last 13 years, includes responses from 51 state and territory CIOs.

The year 2022 continues to be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but state CIOs are also looking to the post-pandemic future and thinking about long-term impacts to the state technology landscape. In addition to the topics listed above, the survey covers a broad range of subjects like CIO business models, federal funding, privacy and state and local collaboration. However, the pervasive topic in nearly every part of the survey is the challenge of maintaining and growing a diverse and sustainable workforce.

“Ensuring that states have the current and future IT workforce necessary continues to be a major pain point for state CIOs,” said NASCIO Executive Director Doug Robinson. “It’s clear that CIOs are thinking about how they will retain the staff needed to meet the demands for digital services today and in the future.”

“Workforce challenges are impacting everything from the ability to secure staff, developing and maintaining relationships with the private sector, delivering digital services, collaborating across government and the role of the CIO,” said Graeme Finley, partner at Guidehouse. “CIOs told us this is a make-or-break situation in every state across the country.”

The complete report is available on NASCIO’s website www.nascio.org/resourcecenter.

NASCIO Contact

Meredith Ward
Director of Policy and Research
National Association of State Chief Information Officers
859.514.9209
[email protected]

NASCIO State CIOs Focused on Application Modernization as Citizen Expectations Never Higher

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LEXINGTON, Ky., Wednesday, October 5, 2022 — the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) and VMware today released Application Modernization is an Imperative for State Governments. The publication includes survey data from state chief information officers (CIOs) on the current state of application modernization in states, how states are approaching application modernization and various processes that are currently being managed by states.|

“While legacy modernization has been a state CIO priority for a while, the COVID-19 pandemic brought much needed attention and funding to this important challenge. In order to meet citizen demand, states must put in place a roadmap for application modernization and prioritize investments,” said Doug Robinson, NASCIO executive director.

“Today, state governments are navigating accelerated innovation timelines with a critical focus on application modernization,” said Herb Thompson, SLED Strategist at VMware. “Application modernization is transforming and expanding how governments deliver access to digital services for citizens. Wherever agencies are on their digital transformation journeys, prioritizing application modernization will help them innovate faster, create resiliency, better serve and meet mission demands.”

The report presents an assessment of the current status of state initiatives, top drivers and challenges to application modernization, expected benefits, and funding approaches. It features imperatives for state planning, including recommendations for moving forward with application modernization.

 

NASCIO Contact

Meredith Ward
Director of Policy and Research
National Association of State Chief Information Officers
859.514.9209
[email protected]

NASCIO Announces Finalists for 2022 NASCIO State IT Recognition Awards

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LEXINGTON, Ky., Tuesday, August 30, 2022 —The National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) has selected 31 finalists across ten categories for the State IT Recognition Awards. Projects and initiatives from NASCIO member states and territories were eligible for nomination. Fifty-five NASCIO members served as volunteer judges to review the nearly 90 submissions, narrowing the nominees down to three finalists in each category. From these finalists, a recipient from each category will be announced during the NASCIO Annual Conference in October.

The award nominations showcase the use of information technology to address critical business problems, more easily connect citizens to their government, improve business processes and create new opportunities that improve the lives of citizens. To ensure states have access to the innovations and leading practices of their peers, all award submissions have been added to NASCIO’s Awards Library.

Award finalists for the 2022 State IT Recognition Awards are:

Business Process Innovations
State of North Carolina: When Minutes Mattered: Automated COVID-19 Reporting System Saved Hospitals’ Time and Reduced Administrative Burden
State of Ohio: Increasing Operational Efficiency Through Process Automation
State of Oregon: Service Transformation Program (STP) OLIVR: Oregon License Issuance and Vehicle Registration 

Cross-Boundary Collaboration & Partnerships
State of Nebraska: United Effort for Law Enforcement
State of North Carolina: The Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) Program: Administering Additional Food Assistance Benefits to North Carolina’s Students and Children
State of Washington: Vessel Broadband Modernization (We don’t need the Wi-Fi password anymore!)

Cybersecurity
State of California: Strengthening Security Through Automation: FTB Governance Risk Management and Compliance Project
State of Illinois: Security Scorecard: You’re the CISO, Cybersecurity is Your Problem
State of Michigan: MILogin: Michigan’s Digital Identity Program
State of North Carolina: Collective Defense and Support: A Whole-of-State Approach to Cybersecurity

Data Management, Analytics & Visualization
State of Michigan: Monitoring the Heartbeat of Michigan: DTMB Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection
State of North Carolina: Unemployment Insurance Fraud: Fraud Detection and Prevention through the Power of Data and Analytics 
State of Tennessee: Vaccination Registration and Administration Solution 

Digital Services: Government to Business
State of Arizona: Underground Storage Tank Compliance and Reporting Goes Digital
State of California: With CROS, Customers Come First
State of North Carolina: Expediting North Carolina Business Creation: An Online Document Filing Wizard 

Digital Services: Government to Citizen
State of Connecticut: OEC Parent Portal
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: My PA Tax Hub: The “PATH” to Improving Taxpayer Services
State of Texas: Texas by Texas (TxT) Digital Assistant 

Emerging & Innovative Technologies 
State of North Carolina: Life-Saving Innovation: ATSC 3.0 in Public Safety Communications
State of Ohio: The Ohio Benefits Program is BOT “In”
State of Tennessee: Intelligent Automation: Reinventing the Way Government Does Business 

Enterprise IT Management Initiatives
State of Georgia: Cloud and Taxes, That’s Certain: Georgia DOR’s Tax System Migration Project 
State of North Carolina: North Carolina: Transforming Procurement in the Cloud 
State of Tennessee: Tenncare Cloud Services Project

Information Communications Technology (ICT) Innovations 
State of North Carolina: Prison Telehealth Program: Efficiency and Innovation In North Carolina Correctional Facilities 
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: Mass Text Messaging for Human Service Recipients
State of Washington: COVID, Murder Hornets and Wildfires—Oh My! Harnessing the Power of GIS to Manage Statewide Crises

State CIO Office Special Recognition
State of California: Forging the Path to Recovery: Digital COVID-19 Vaccine Record
State of Illinois: Access Illinois: Elevating Accessibility for Residents with Disabilities
State of Indiana: Building a Work-Based Learning Program and Hiring the Next Generation of State Employees  

 

NASCIO Contact

Meredith Ward
Director of Policy and Research
National Association of State Chief Information Officers
859.514.9209
[email protected]

NASCIO Releases Progress Report on State Chief Privacy Officer Role

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Lexington, Ky., Wednesday, June 15, 2022 — The National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) today released Privacy Progressing: How the State Chief Privacy Officer Role is Growing and Evolving. This publication is a follow up to the 2019 report Perspectives on Privacy: A Survey and Snapshot of the Growing State Chief Privacy Officer Role. Since 2019, the number of states with a chief privacy officer has grown from 12 to 21, reflecting the importance of this role. The report includes data collected from state CPOs, advice from current CPOs and recommendations for state privacy programs and officials.

“As states continue to evolve their privacy programs and positions, this publication gives critical ‘advice from the trenches’ and data that will help states along their privacy journey,” said Amy Glasscock, CIPM, NASCIO Program Director, Innovation and Emerging Issues.

Other findings from the report include:

  • Law degrees continue to be the most common among state CPOs with 76 percent of respondents holding a law degree
  • Fifty-three percent of respondents have authority over the executive branch
  • The number of CPO roles established via statute increased from three in 2019 to five in 2022
  • Eighty-eight percent of CPOs report their role is both policy and operational focused
  • Only one state reported a defined budget for privacy initiatives

The report can be found in NASCIO’s Resource Center.

 

NASCIO Contact

Meredith Ward
Director of Policy and Research
National Association of State Chief Information Officers
859.514.9209
[email protected]

NASCIO Members Give Back During NASCIO 2022 Midyear Conference

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Lexington, Ky., Tuesday, May 17, 2022 — The National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) donated over $40,500 to Byte Back and Stem for Her. The NASCIO Programs Committee chose both organizations for the Midyear giveback program because they ignite passion in STEM fields and open the IT profession to new communities. NASCIO’s 2022 Midyear Conference was held in National Harbor, Maryland earlier this month.

Donations were collected during the NASCIO 2022 Midyear Conference and NASCIO state, corporate and nonprofit members donated through individual contributions. NASCIO corporate members Accenture, Carahsoft Technology Corp., CGI, In Time Tec and UiPath sponsored this year’s Give Back Program and contributed to the donation total.

Byte Back closes the digital divide by providing historically excluded communities an equitable pathway into the digital economy. They achieve this through transformative digital advocacy, digital literacy and tech certification training. Byte Back is one of the only organizations in the US that helps diverse adults who have been left behind by the digital divide to build a foundation of computer skills, earn tech certifications, and launch careers. Graduates who were hired in 2021 started earning $25,000 more per year than before Byte Back.

STEM for Her promotes education to create awareness, excitement, and opportunities among girls and young women to launch successful STEM-related careers. Through direct exposure to hands-on experiences, mentors and role models and other programs, STEM for Her enables girls and young women to envision the path to an education and a career in STEM.

 

NASCIO Contact

Meredith Ward
Director of Policy and Research
National Association of State Chief Information Officers
859.514.9209
[email protected]

NASCIO Technology Champion Award Honors New York’s Rajiv Rao

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Lexington, Ky., Monday, May 2, 2022 — The National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) has awarded Rajiv Rao, the Chief Technology Officer and Deputy CIO for New York State, with the association’s 2022 Technology Champion Award. Rao’s nomination for this award describes him as someone who, “is known for his unparalleled work ethic that knows no bounds when it comes to presenting new ideas and implementing new approaches to serve at scale.”

In 2021, Rao was one of the core designers of New York State’s Excelsior Vaccine Validation Pass, a virtual credential New York State residents can receive for submitting COVID-19 vaccination status or current covid negative test result. Under Rao’s leadership, his team deployed virtual agents as a part of New York State’s AI-assisted call center in just four weeks. The call center was instrumental in addressing New Yorkers’ questions and providing access to critical information around the clock and in multiple languages. It also helped to ensure that the CIO staff could address a significant volume of calls without getting overwhelmed.

NASCIO created the Technology Champion Award in 2003 to recognize outstanding individual contributions to the field of information technology in the public sector. Recipients further NASCIO’s vision of a government in which the public is fully served through the efficient and effective use of technology policy.

Learn more about the NASCIO Technology Champion award and prior recipients at www.nascio.org/awards.

NASCIO Contact

Meredith Ward
Director of Policy and Research
National Association of State Chief Information Officers
859.514.9209
[email protected]

NASCIO Releases Study on Diversity and Inclusion in State IT

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Lexington, Ky., Wednesday, April 13, 2022— today, the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) released Diversity and Inclusion: An Essential Element to the State IT Workforce. It has been widely acknowledged that state government has significant challenges in recruiting and retaining a qualified IT workforce and this has been a theme in NASCIO’s research. State chief information officers (CIOs) reported that one way they are trying to meet these challenges is by prioritizing diversity and inclusion. The NASCIO Executive Committee therefore voted unanimously in December 2021 to study the state IT workforce and identify gaps and meaningful steps that state CIOs can take to recruit and retain a diverse workforce and maintain an inclusive workplace.

“The vast majority of job seekers today prioritize diversity and inclusion,” said Doug Robinson, NASCIO Executive Director. “If state CIOs are to recruit and retain the needed workforce to meet the current and future needs of the states we serve, they must also prioritize diversity and inclusion.”

The publication includes data from a survey of state CIOs on diversity and inclusion in hiring, retention and culture in CIO offices. It also provides interviews with NASCIO corporate members. These conversations were an important component of the project as the private sector generally has well established diversity and inclusion programs that can provide blueprints for states.

The publication, along with NASCIO’s other research on the state IT workforce, can be found on NASCIO’s website in the Resource Center.

NASCIO Contact

Meredith Ward
Director of Policy and Research
National Association of State Chief Information Officers
859.514.9209
[email protected]

NASCIO Releases 2022 Federal Advocacy Priorities: Renews Call for Cybersecurity Regulation Harmonization

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Lexington, Ky.,  January 19, 2022 — Today, the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) released its 2022 federal advocacy priorities. NASCIO’s advocacy priorities reflect the importance of collaboration between states and the federal government. The priorities are as follows:

  • Harmonize Disparate Federal Cybersecurity Regulations
  • Ensure Responsible Implementation of the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program
  • Continued Adoption of DotGov Domain is Essential
  • Expand Broadband Deployment and Reform FCC Mapping Methodology

Fact sheets regarding the above priorities can be found at www.NASCIO.org.

“While the past year has seen progress in assistance to state governments, there is more to do,” said NASCIO President and Maryland Secretary of Technology Michael Leahy. “Workforce challenges, an increased demand for digital services and other issues highlighted by the pandemic reinforce the importance of NASCIO’s federal advocacy priorities.”

The association’s federal advocacy priorities are selected by NASCIO’s executive committee and reflect policy priorities as indicated by association members in the State CIO Top Ten (www.NASCIO.org).

NASCIO Contact

Meredith Ward
Director of Policy and Research
National Association of State Chief Information Officers
859.514.9209
[email protected]