Today, the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) released Unlocking Potential: Empowering Reentry through Cybersecurity Training. The public sector cybersecurity workforce is facing critical shortages that are expected to contribute to more than half of cybersecurity incidents by year’s end. Meanwhile, approximately 600,000 people are released from state and federal prisons, and over nine million from municipal and county jails annually. Low-level, nonviolent offenders often struggle to build a stable life after reentering society from incarceration due to numerous factors, including a lack of adequate work experience and education. This publication explores how vocational, prison-based cybersecurity education programs can address cybersecurity workforce shortages, reduce recidivism and increase inclusion within the industry.  

Contact

Kalea Young-Gibson
Policy Analyst
National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO)
[email protected]

Lexington, Ky, Wednesday, April 30, 2025 — The National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) has awarded Jorge Cardenas, Chief Information Officer for the City of Brownsville, Texas, with the association’s 2025 Technology Champion Award. In the award nomination, Cardenas was described as putting a special emphasis on the importance of technology to city operations and citizen experience. He was nominated by Sharon Murphy, Marketing Senior Specialist, NTT DATA.

During Jorge’s three years in Brownsville, he created the city’s first information technology department, updated the city’s network infrastructure to 5G, built out one hundred miles of mid-mile fiber and partnered with an internet service provider to invest in the last mile. As a city that is close to the border of Mexico, there are unique challenges that it must address. The improvements that Jorge has implemented are expected to solve real-time issues like stopping stolen vehicles from crossing the border by using license plate reader technology, detecting unmanned arial vehicles and improving perimeter security at the airport. These updgrades are also expected to attract more businesses to the city, creating job opportunities and fostering economic growth.

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.

Contact
Meredith Ward
Deputy Executive Director
National Association of State Chief Information Officers
[email protected]

WASHINGTON, DC., Monday, March 31, 2025— Tomorrow, NASCIO Secretary and Treasurer Alan Fuller, CIO for the State of Utah, and Mark Raymond, CIO for the State of Connecticut will testify before the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection on the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program. They will highlight how the grant has helped states to address critical cybersecurity vulnerabilities and assist local communities in improving their cyber defenses. NASCIO supports reauthorization of this important grant program and looks forward to working with Congress to assist states in protecting critical technology infrastructure.

Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection Hearing:
Cybersecurity is Local, Too: Assessing the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program;
Tuesday, April 1st 10:00 – 12:00 pm ET,
310 Cannon House Office Building
Link: https://homeland.house.gov/hearing/cybersecurity-is-local-too-assessing-the-state-and-local-cybersecurity-grant-program/

Contact

Alex Whitaker
Director of Government Affairs
National Association of State Chief Information Officers
[email protected]