Cyber, digital services, workforce primary focus for state CIOs in 2023
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Identity and access management, cloud and application modernization rank as the big three technology priorities.
Top priorities for state chief information officers have remained steady for several years in a row, but new concerns are surfacing, according to NASCIO’s Dec. 12 report.
Cyber and risk management has held the No. 1 spot for 10 consecutive years, while digital government and services has been the runner up for the last four years, according to the National State Association of Chief Information Officers annual State CIO Top 10 Priorities List.
Last year, broadband and wireless connectivity sat in the third spot, but dropped to No. 9 in the 2023 list. Taking its place from No. 7 in 2022 is workforce, which entails preparing the future workforce, transforming knowledge, skills and experience, defining IT asset management roles, managing business relationships and integrating services. Cloud also fell in the rankings, moving from the fourth spot to the sixth.
“State CIOs continue to face increasing challenges with IT workforce, especially in the area of cybersecurity,” Doug Robinson, NASCIO executive director, said in a statement. “It is no surprise that workforce jumped to a much higher position this year as CIOs continue to struggle to recruit and retain a qualified workforce.”
Back on the list at No. 10 is customer relationship management, which includes internal customer service strategies, building customer agency confidence and trust, collaboration and service-level agreements. The last time CRM appeared on the priorities list was 2020, but as government continues to lag the private sector in digital transformation, improving customer and employee experience has shifted back into focus.
NASCIO also ranked priority technologies, applications and tools for the next year. Still in the top four are identity and access management (No. 1), legacy application modernization (No. 2), cloud solutions (No. 3) and other as-a-service offerings (No. 4).
Business process integration sits at No. 10, leaving data management off the list from the previous year. It held the No. 8 position in 2022. Security enhancement tools (No. 5) and artificial intelligence and robotic process automation (No. 6) switched ranks from 2022 to 2023.
Every year since 2007, NASCIO has surveyed state and territory CIOs to identify the strategies, solutions and management processes most important to them. Their responses help NASCIO develop strategic areas of focus for the coming year, formulate new issue forums and working groups and plan NASCIO conference sessions and publications.
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