State CIOs Lead Digital Services Efforts to Improve Citizen Experience

New Report Reveals Significant Lessons Learned During COVID-19 Pandemic

Seattle, Wash., October 11, 2021 – The ongoing response to and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic have significantly accelerated digital transformation within state governments on numerous fronts and placed the state Chief Information Officer (CIO) at the center of much of this work, according to the 2021 State CIO Survey, Driving Digital Acceleration. The report examines key issues related to the impact of COVID-19 such as digital government, remote workforce models, cybersecurity and broadband networks.

The state CIO survey, which has been published annually for the last 12 years, includes responses from 49 state and territory CIOs and is the product of a partnership between the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO), Grant Thornton LLC and CompTIA.

“State CIOs are well positioned to effectively shepherd their states toward and through significant digital evolution on several levels,” NASCIO Executive Director Doug Robinson commented. “State leaders will continue to look to state CIOs to leverage and build on the progress made over the past year.”

“For state CIOs, there is no returning to pre-pandemic business models,” said Graeme Finley, principal at Grant Thornton. “The pandemic highlighted the value of technology and how critical it is in the delivery of government services and to the productivity of state employees.”

“While 2021 was still very much dominated by a state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the results of this survey revealed a strong desire for government technology leaders to embrace these challenges and look for opportunities to improve how state agencies interact
with and serve citizens and customers,” added Jordan Kroll, Director of Public Sector at CompTIA. “This ongoing focus on digital government, along with the shift to hybrid and remote work permanently, have fundamentally changed and elevated the role of state CIO.”

The 2021 State CIO Survey also highlights adoption of cloud, emerging technologies and legacy modernization within state government. The complete report, Driving Digital Acceleration, is available here.

NASCIO Contact

Meredith Ward
Director of Policy and Research
National Association of State Chief Information Officers
859.514.9209
[email protected]