State CIOs Meet with Federal CIO and Advocate for Strengthening Federal-State Partnerships

WASHINGTON, D.C. Wednesday, May 8, 2019 – Today, members of the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) met with Suzette Kent, the Federal Chief Information Officer of the United States, as well as strategic partners and federal officials from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Office of Safeguards, the Federal Bureau of Investigation Criminal Justice Information Services (FBI-CJIS), FirstNet, and the General Services Administration (GSA). NASCIO members advocated for increasing partnerships between the federal government and state governments and discussed the advancement of NASCIO’s federal advocacy priorities including the need to harmonize disparate and often conflicting federal cybersecurity regulations.

NASCIO president and Delaware CIO James Collins said, “we welcome the tremendous opportunity to engage with our federal and strategic partners and appreciate the good discussions today. We look forward to continued and fruitful partnerships.”

NASCIO members also engaged with representatives from the National Governors Association (NGA), the General Services Administration (GSA) and FirstNet. Representatives from NGA spoke to their respective organizational priorities, while GSA provided an update on their DotGov program.

NASCIO’s annual D.C. Fly-In convenes state CIOs and NASCIO’s federal and strategic partners for a day of advocacy and discussion related to current government affairs priorities related to recognizing the state CIO role in emerging technology, information sharing, and harmonizing federal cybersecurity regulations. It also serves as an opportunity for state CIOs to establish and strengthen key relationships with federal decision-makers. More information on NASCIO’s advocacy priorities can be found here: www.nascio.org/Advocacy.