State CIOs advocate for strong federal-state partnership to address cybersecurity and introduce efficiencies in the federal information security compliance process
WASHINGTON, D.C. Wednesday, April 26, 2017 — Today NASCIO members met with federal officials from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Social Security Administration (SSA), FirstNet, and various strategic partners to emphasize the need for strong intergovernmental partnerships between the federal government and state governments.
Nearly 40 state CIOs and state technology officials participated in NASCIO’s 2017 Fly-In where they advocated to advance NASCIO’s advocacy priorities which includes cybersecurity. State CIOs heard from DHS Director of Federal Network Resilience Mark Kneidinger about federal resources available to states to combat cybersecurity threats. State CIOs also discussed cybersecurity and federal priorities with several association partners including the National Governors Association (NGA), National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS), and the National Association of Medicaid Directors (NAMD).
Additionally, as part of NASCIO’s advocacy effort to harmonize federal IT security regulations, representatives from the IRS and SSA joined NASCIO members to discuss ways to introduce efficiencies into the compliance process. State governments administer federal programs to state citizens and as such must comply with federal information security regulations like those contained in “IRS Publication 1075” and SSA’s “Electronic Information Exchange Security Requirements and Procedures for State and Local Agencies Exchanging Electronic Information with the SSA.” State CIOs are responsible for meeting the IT security needs of state agencies that deliver government services and have asked representatives from both the SSA and IRS to work together on normalizing the security audit process.
“State CIOs recognize the importance of securing citizen data. We appreciate the intent behind federal information security regulations that aim to protect citizen information. We appreciated the opportunity to discuss ways state CIOs could work in partnership with the IRS and SSA to improve the compliance process for all those involved. We look forward to ongoing and productive engagement with our federal partners,” said NASCIO President and Connecticut CIO, Mark Raymond.
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: cybersecurity, FirstNet, flexibility in federal regulations impacting state IT, and information sharing. It also serves as an opportunity for state CIOs to establish and strengthen key relationships with federal decision-makers.
