Amy and Alex sit down with NASCIO President and Arizona State CIO J.R. Sloan and NASCIO Director of Enterprise Architecture and Governance Eric Sweden to discuss NASCIO’s 2026 President’s Initiative: citizen digital identity management.
J.R. shares why he selected this initiative, drawing on over a decade of experience seeing firsthand how fragmented, decentralized identity systems create friction for both states and the citizens they serve. Eric walks through the research process, including a survey of 47 state responses, 12 state interviews, and 8 corporate member interviews, and highlights key findings around the shift from single sign-on to enterprise trust platforms.
The conversation covers the drivers behind the growing urgency around digital identity — including pandemic-era fraud, rising cyber threats, and the move to digital government services — as well as the barriers states face, from inadequate funding and technical debt to balancing privacy with cross-agency data sharing. The group also looks ahead at emerging challenges posed by AI and quantum computing.
Plus, J.R. and Eric face the lightning round: mobile ID vs. plastic, digital identity in one-syllable words, and what defines their personal identities outside of work.
The full report, Citizen Digital Identity Management: Findings from a Survey of the States, is available at nascio.org.
