NASCIO Technology Champion Award Honors Oregon Governor Kate Brown

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Baltimore, MD., Monday, April 23, 2018 — The National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) has awarded Oregon Governor Kate Brown with the association’s 2018 Technology Champion Award. The announcement was made at the NASCIO 2018 Midyear Conference in Baltimore, MD.

The award honors outstanding individual contributions in 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.

“NASCIO and its members applaud Governor Brown’s leadership around cybersecurity, broadband, managing data as a strategic asset and modernizing IT procurement,” said Bo Reese, Oklahoma CIO and NASCIO President. “The benefits of these contributions extend outside Oregon’s borders, serving as examples nation-wide and demonstrating the transformative role IT can have in state government.”

Since taking office, Governor Brown has strengthened Oregon’s cybersecurity posture. Efforts include the creation of the cross-sector Cybersecurity Center of Excellence, which brings together Oregon’s cyber-related industries, private sector practitioners, educational institutions, law enforcement and local governments to build tangible solutions to protect the digital lives or Oregonians. Governor Brown has also focused on leveraging data, establishing an Open Data standard for the management of data as a strategic asset and appointing a Chief Data Officer.

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

NASCIO Releases State CIO as Broker: A New Model

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LEXINGTON, Ky., Wednesday, April 18 — The National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) has released a first in a series on the topic of “multisourcing” describing the need for a new operating model for orchestrating a wide portfolio of resources for delivering government IT services.

NASCIO is conducting research this year on the topic of multisourcing and the bringing together of multiple service providers, both internal and external, using a new operating model.  A key role in this operating model is the Multisourcing Service Integrator or MSI. States are looking for ways to deliver on demand for a more diversified portfolio of services and technologies.  In order to that meet demand and maintain enterprise wide standards the new operating model that is emerging can appear to be fairly complex.  NASCIO’s research project is intended to help forge the way forward to provide best practices and a maturity assessment for states.

Dr. Craig Orgeron, co-chair of the NASCIO Enterprise Architecture & Governance Committee and chief information officer for the state of Mississippi stated, “States are advancing in their service and technology portfolios to include a wide variety of partners, technologies and underlying architectures.  We have to employ a new operating model that will provide the critical capabilities for effectively organizing and managing these elements, so they can be orchestrated to deliver a set of coordinated solutions across the state government enterprise.”

“We’re highlighting a framework for describing and managing the necessary inherent change toward this new operating model that takes into consideration political and market forces, maintains a customer focus, and leverages best practices in areas such as procurement and delivery,” stated Eric Boyette, co-chair of the NASCIO Enterprise Architecture & Governance Committee and chief information officer for the state of North Carolina. “These forces are then grounded on certain change principles.  Most important is ensuring decisions are made with the citizen in mind.”

NASCIO will continue its research through 2018 culminating with a final report to be released at the NASCIO Annual Conference in October 2018.

The report is available for download at https://www.nascio.org/ResourceCenter.

NASCIO Announces 2019 and 2020 Midyear Conference Site

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LEXINGTON, Ky., Wednesday, March 21,2018— The National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) is pleased to announce the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center, located in National Harbor, Maryland, will be the location for the 2019 and 2020 Midyear Conferences. The NASCIO Midyear Conference gives state CIOs and members of their staff the opportunity to come together with the many service providers for education and networking.

Doug Robinson, NASCIO Executive Director, stated, “Each year NASCIO seeks a location in and around the Washington, DC area for our Midyear Conference. Not only does the Gaylord National provide an outstanding venue for the event, the variety of restaurants and after-hours locales provides a great networking setting for our attendees. We’re excited to bring our event to this location in 2019 and 2020.”

To learn more about NASCIO’s Midyear Conference, visit our website at www.NASCIO.org. 

NASCIO Once Again Champions Data Privacy Day

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LEXINGTON, Ky., Friday, January 26, 2018 — The National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) has announced its commitment to Data Privacy Day ‒ an international effort held annually on January 28 to create awareness about the importance of respecting privacy, safeguarding data and enabling trust – by signing up as a Data Privacy Day 2018 Champion. As a Champion, NASCIO recognizes and supports the principle that all organizations share the responsibility of being conscientious stewards of personal information.

Data Privacy Day is part of a greater campaign that promotes awareness of the importance of privacy, highlights easy ways to protect personal information and reminds organizations that privacy is good for business. NASCIO joins the growing global effort among nonprofits, academic institutions, corporations, government entities, municipalities and individuals to raise awareness at home, at work and school and in their communities. Through collaboration and unified, consistent messaging about privacy and protecting personal information, all Data Privacy Day Champions are working toward the common goal of improving individual and business consciousness toward respecting privacy, safeguarding data and enabling trust.  

“Once again, Data Privacy Day gives privacy and technology professionals the opportunity to raise awareness about the importance of privacy and protecting personal information. We encourage state CIOs and Chief Privacy Officers to participate in this important event,” stated Missouri Acting Chief Information Officer and NASCIO Privacy and Data Protection co-chair Richard Kliethermes. In addition to becoming a DPD Champion, NASCIO continues to hold monthly calls with its Privacy and Data Protection Working Group, which was formed in 2016. This group highlights privacy issues of importance to state CIOs and their teams. The working group is a subcommittee of the NASCIO Cybersecurity Committee.

In North America, the Data Privacy Day initiative is officially led by the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA), a nonprofit, public-private partnership dedicated to promoting a safer, more secure and more trusted internet. For more information about getting involved in Data Privacy Day and becoming a Champion, visit staysafeonline.org/data-privacy-day. You can also follow NCSA on Facebook and Twitter for updates and resources and use the official hashtag #PrivacyAware to join the conversation.

NASCIO Releases 2018 Federal Advocacy Priorities: Focus on Innovation and Efficiencies

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WASHINGTON, D.C., Thursday, January 18, 2018 – Today, the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NACSIO) released its 2018 federal advocacy priorities. NASCIO’s federal advocacy priorities include:

  1. Harmonize disparate federal cybersecurity regulations and normalize the audit process
  2. Recognize state authority and ongoing innovation with emerging technology
  3. Information sharing and safeguards: meeting citizen expectations

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

“NASCIO’s 2018 advocacy priorities reflect the work and ambitions of state CIOs across the country. State CIOs continue to seek efficiencies within state government through efforts like IT consolidation/optimization, which for my state has reaped over $351 million in savings and IT cost avoidance. However, voluminous and conflicting federal cybersecurity regulations often pose a challenge in our ability to do so and it is our hope that our federal partners will work with state CIOs to harmonize regulations and normalize the audit process,” said NASCIO president and Oklahoma CIO Bo Reese.

With emerging technology, the 2017 State CIO Survey revealed that when compared with previous years, more state CIOs are incorporating networked devices into their state’s IT strategic plans and creating roadmaps for adoption and utilization. NASCIO data further indicate that state CIOs are taking a collaborative role in emerging IT and working with state government agencies in decision-making. “State CIOs recognize the need to address emerging technology by design rather than default and are embracing their role in these discussions,” said NASCIO executive director Doug Robinson.

Regarding information sharing, NASCIO will continue to advocate for the adoption of the National Information Exchange Model (NIEM) among relevant stakeholders. Promoting information sharing as an advocacy priority reflects the increasingly important role of data and analytics within state government through which state governments aim to better serve their citizens.

The association’s federal advocacy priorities are selected by NASCIO’s executive committee and reflect policy priorities as indicated by association members (www.NASCIO.org/topten) . NASCIO aims to add to policy discussions taking place within the federal government sphere as they relate to the business of state government IT.

State CIO Priorities for 2018 – State Technology Leaders make Security and Cloud Services Top Priorities

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LEXINGTON, Ky., Wednesday, November 29 – The National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) has released its annual survey of state information technology leaders on critical priorities for the coming year. As expected, security remains as the top priority, however cloud services moved into position as a close second. The prioritized rankings of strategies and technologies reflect voting by state CIOs and are available for download at www.NASCIO.org/topten.

In past years, there has been a noticeable gap in the votes for the number one spot and the runner up. Not this year. This emphasis on cloud services and the continuing strong position of budget and cost control are indicative that CIOs are still concerned about maintaining cost and quality of services. This is further supported by the fact that agile is on the Top Ten for the third year in a row. Shared services comes in sixth after being off the Top Ten for three years. There is a definite growing trend toward consolidating and unifying services across the enterprise.

Bo Reese, NASCIO president and chief information officer for the state of Oklahoma stated, "Data management and analytics, cloud solutions and certainly security are demanding our attention. Unification of services will drive the need to improve data management discipline, enterprise governance and optimization."

"There is an overarching continued consistency in the areas of budget and cost control, security and risk management," remarked NASCIO Executive Director Doug Robinson. "Digital government appears for the first time as priority four which is indicative of states' efforts to focus on citizen services using digital platforms and integration." 

NASCIO utilizes the annual list of priorities to develop strategic areas of focus for the coming year, formulate new committees and working groups and plan NASCIO conference sessions and publications.

NASCIO Releases Playbook for State Enterprise Data Center Consolidation

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LEXINGTON, Ky., Thursday, November 16 — On Thursday, the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) released a new publication entitled, “Shrinking State Data Centers: A Playbook for Enterprise Data Center Consolidation.”

In addition to a discussion of the benefits and barriers to consolidation, the playbook lays out ten steps for State CIOs who have yet to complete enterprise data center consolidation. The publication illustrates the plays via real world experiences described through interviews with State CIOs and others involved in consolidating state data centers.

“NASCIO published a paper on enterprise data center consolidation in 2007, and we felt it was time to revisit this important issue and share lessons learned in the last decade,” explained NASCIO Executive Director Doug Robinson.

“Having just completed the process of enterprise data center consolidation in Oklahoma, I can verify both the benefits as well as the detailed planning that is required. NASCIO’s playbook will be a welcome tool to states who are early in the process” stated Bo Reese, NASCIO President and Chief Information Officer for Oklahoma.

You can find this publication at www.nascio.org/ResourceCenter.

NASCIO Appoints New Directors to Executive Committee Leadership

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LEXINGTON, Ky., Tuesday, November 14 – In October, the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) announced their Executive Committee leadership for 2017-2018. Since that time, three vacancies were created in director positions due to changes in membership. NASCIO President Bo Reese, chief information officer for the state of Oklahoma, has filled those positions and is proud to announce the following NASCIO Executive Committee Directors:

Eric Boyette, Chief Information Officer, North Carolina
Denis Goulet, Commissioner, New Hampshire
Mike Hussey, Chief Information Officer, Utah

Goulet and Hussey were appointed to two-year terms as director with Boyette fulfilling a one-year term. Doug Robinson, NASCIO executive director, noted, “The addition of these individuals who have led innovation in their states to our already strong leadership will only serve to continuing NASCIO’s position as a leader in furthering the advancement of the state chief information officer.”

Visit www.nascio.org/committees/executive for the full 2017-2018 NASCIO Executive Committee.

Governors and State CIOs seek collaboration with Office of Management and Budget to harmonize disparate federal cybersecurity regulations and normalize the audit process

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LEXINGTON, Ky., Tuesday, November 7, 2017 — Yesterday, the National Governors Association (NGA) and the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) sought the engagement of the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) to harmonize disparate and often conflicting federal cybersecurity regulations and normalize the audit process. 

In a letter to OMB Director Mick Mulvaney signed by NGA Homeland Security and Public Safety Committee Leadership and their respective state chief information officers (CIO), NGA and NASCIO highlighted the regulatory burden faced by state governments when attempting to consolidate/optimize state government IT. State governments must comply with a long list of federal cybersecurity regulations that were promulgated in a silo-ed fashion which led to disparate compliance rules and duplicative audits by multiple federal agencies. 

The federal IT compliance environment hampers the work of state CIOs who seek to bring cost savings to the state by operating state government IT as a unified, single entity or “enterprise.” The letter references the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing in June 2017 when Oklahoma CIO Bo Reese, then vice president now president of NASCIO, testified on the $286 million savings he brought to the state through IT consolidation/optimization. Reese stated during the hearing that compliance with federal cybersecurity regulations served as a large implement to the IT consolidation/optimization process. 

Regarding the letter, Reese stated: “We are extremely pleased to have the support of NGA and eagerly look forward to working with our federal partners to collectively craft a solution that secures citizen data while also being more efficient both in process and cost.” 

NASCIO Conference Attendees Give Back To Austin, Host City of 2017 Annual Conference

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LEXINGTON, Ky., Thursday, October 12, 2017 — The National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) provided a $11,055 donation to Kids In a New Groove (KING), an Austin organization that provides music instruction and mentorship to youth in foster care. Donations were collected during the NASCIO Annual Conference held October 1-4 in Austin through the Give Back program as a thank you to the host city. NASCIO state, corporate, media and nonprofit members donated $6,055 through individual contributions and NASCIO provided a $5,000 donation.

“It was such an honor for Kids In A New Groove (KING) to be a part of the NASCIO conference this year,” said Laura Wood, KING Executive Director. “At KING, we provide Texas youth in foster care with a committed one-on-one mentoring relationship through weekly music lessons. Music provides a therapeutic outlet, teaches persistence, and nourishes self-esteem; tools for success that reach beyond our program.”

During the conference, Wood addressed the crowd and showcased the organization’s successes. “For the past three years, 100 percent of eligible seniors graduated high school; the national average for youth in foster care is less than 50 percent. Of those graduates, 95 percent went on to attend college, technical school, or enlist in the military, with the national average of youth in foster care attending college being less than 3 percent.”

Wood went on to say that “NASCIO's generous donation will allow KING to expand our services to enroll even more Central Texas youth in foster care, providing them with the benefits of a creative outlet and a committed one-on-one mentorship relationship.”

Prior to the conference NASCIO made a donation of $5,375 to the American Red Cross Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund. “As we gather in Austin for our annual conference, we know that elsewhere in the state, residents are rebuilding their homes, their businesses and their daily way of life,” said NASCIO Executive Director Doug Robinson. “NASCIO staff and members are thinking of our host state as they move forward.”

To learn more about Kids In a New Groove, please visit kidsinanewgroove.org.