State CIOs convene to talk security, collaboration

Dozens of state IT leaders convened in Nashville, Tennessee last week for the National Association of State Chief Information Officers annual conference to discuss issues ranging from the future of work to customer relationship management. But some of the biggest takeaways concerned new ways of tackling cybersecurity, including cutting-edge tools like artificial intelligence and increased collaboration between state and local officials.

One report released at NASCIO found that state IT officials are using artificial intelligence to build better cybersecurity tools and reduce fraud. The report called the use of AI “nascent” in the public sector, but said that its applications were promising and included best practices and recommendations like creating a framework for AI adoption and choosing AI projects where success can be clearly measured. 

Additionally, most state IT officials reported in another survey that they collaborate with local governments, and most also provide services to their local counterparts. Security infrastructure and services are the projects most commonly collaborated on, the survey found, followed by network services and data center hosting.

While New York’s chief information officer Robert Samson recently stepped down from the post, interim CIO Joseph Rabito has outlined goals to increase efficiency and better use of state resources. “We believe our ability to keep pace with this rapidly changing environment has fallen short, and that must change,” Rabito wrote in a memo to staff, first reported by Government Technology.

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