As State CIO Responsibilities Expand, Renewed Dedication to Customer Service Abounds

With heightened attention around improving the government experience, state technology leaders are instituting new measures to evaluate the effectiveness of agency programs, policy and operations. The 2019 State CIO Survey, The Responsive State CIO: Connecting to the Customer, takes a deep dive into how state IT leaders are targeting their responses to customer needs, in addition to managing the evolving IT responsibilities of state leaders. The survey was released by the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO), Grant Thornton LLP and CompTIA. It includes responses from 49 state and territory CIOs on a range of issues, including two new topics for this year: customer relationship management and state and local collaboration.

“As NASCIO looks back and celebrates our 50th year, we are also looking forward to what the next 50 years will bring to state technology,” NASCIO Executive Director Doug Robinson commented. “The Responsive State CIO takes a look at the business models, processes, skills and roles the future state CIO will need.”

“In this 10th release of our State CIO Survey, we have highlighted the enhanced focus state CIOs are placing on being proactive in anticipating and responding to customer needs,” said Graeme Finley, principal with Grant Thornton’s Public Sector practice. “From establishing dedicated units to managing customer relationships to increasing the transparency in how they charge for services, CIOs are now more than ever treating strong customer relationships as vital to their success.”

“Much like the role of the CIO has evolved to a more customer service-focused approach, industry is also adapting to the changing responsibilities and focus of their CIO customers to better understand, anticipate and respond to their needs,” added Jordan Kroll, Director of Public Sector at CompTIA. “This survey provides vendor partners with a roadmap to better understand and respond to trends in the state IT marketplace and key barriers CIOs face in meeting the needs of their constituents and government agencies."

The 2019 State CIO Survey highlights CIO business models, IT cost management, workforce, cybersecurity, performance management, acquisition, cloud services, digital government, data management and analytics and emerging technologies. The complete report, The Responsive State CIO: Connecting to the Customer, is available on the NASCIO website (www.NASCIO.org).