State government IT leaders are evolving services to address citizens’ growing demands of remote access to their benefits, whether it be applying for them or receiving them. The urgency also stems from the accelerating shortage of talent that is available to manage and maintain the existing IT infrastructure and portfolio of software applications that execute state policies. As a result, their priorities are changing.
In a survey released at the recent National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) annual conference, senior government IT leaders said that expanding and accelerating the provision of digital government services in 2023 would require departments to focus on cybersecurity and legacy application modernization as their top two priorities.
Why is this the case?
User expectations for exceptional digital experiences soared during the pandemic and are here to stay. In addition, citizens’ increased use of services for benefits exposed the fragility of existing legacy applications that weren’t designed for digital-first interactions. Government agencies also have substantial technology debt to overcome since, historically, IT budgets have lagged behind needs. It’s no surprise, then, that 48% of CIOs say that at least half of their applications need to be modernized to support their transformation objectives.
Fortunately, new legislation has designated more funds for state CIOs to invest in IT. The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act all provide state funds for IT investment. As a result, state and local governments have $130.5 billion to spend on IT in 2022-2023, up from $118.7 billion in 2021-2022.
How Are State Government IT Priorities Changing
Given the new funding, what will state government leadership be investing in for 2023?
• Redoubling the focus on cybersecurity: Government agencies collect, operationalize and store sensitive data to develop and deliver mission-critical services over the internet. Cyberattackers target government systems to access customer data, destabilize services, steal intellectual property and demand ransoms. In 2021, government agencies were the second-most attacked sector. As a result, “Sixty-four percent of government IT leaders will spend more on cybersecurity in 2023 than in 2022,” as shown in the 2023 Gartner CIO and Technology Executive Survey. “You boil it down to the CIO, it is cybersecurity. Absolutely…That is the highest priority,” says Chris Howard, chief of research at Gartner, in the WSJ.
Agencies struggle to harden defenses with disparate cybersecurity strategies, an abundance of legacy systems and workforce shortages. As just one example, many state government legacy applications are not compatible with the latest security features. Only 14% of state agencies had fully implemented an identity, credential and access management solution as of 2022. Agencies will be modernizing applications to eliminate security gaps and utilize the latest security advances to protect their systems and underlying data.
• Implementing GOTS software: Private sector companies use commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) products to accelerate the modernization of their applications while reducing development timeframes and costs. Government agencies want to achieve the same goals.
One approach is to implement government off-the-shelf (GOTS) solutions, which are tailor-made to agency requirements. By adopting GOTS solutions, agencies can exit the business of developing software while also being able to share, reuse or resell it. Agencies pursuing this path will strive to build software that solves common problems, increasing its usability. CIOs will want to develop long-term application strategies that demonstrate how new solutions will gain a wider user base and achieve the desired ROI. They’ll also seek to secure long-term funding for updates and provide teams with modern technologies to evolve GOTS platforms.
• Deploying a workforce with modern IT and security skills: While the C-suite now has more IT funds available, these leaders want to spend them strategically to accomplish top priorities such as recruiting, developing and retaining top technology and security talent. A recent survey found that 40% of public sector workers’ core skills will need to change within the next five years and that nearly 1 in 2 workers will require at least three months of re-skilling to be able to meet new government objectives.
The top five skills that CIOs and CISOs are looking for include data analytics and cloud technologies, cybersecurity and privacy, the internet of things, and artificial intelligence and machine learning.
CIOs and CISOs will be teaming with HR organizations to create talent strategies, recruit and develop new hires and upskill existing workforces in conjunction with investing in advanced capabilities.
• Transforming digital services to empower citizens: State citizens expect the same high-quality, personalized experience from state government agencies that they enjoy from digital leaders such as Amazon and Apple. Today, citizens often bridge multiple channels to research services, pay bills and taxes or access benefits, providing data with each interaction. Agencies are aggregating customer and operational data to develop a single portal that integrates all services and provide citizens with a single digital ID to access services. Artificial intelligence and automation guide workflow and personalize service delivery, making it easy for consumers to complete tasks. Citizens benefit by receiving the same experience regardless of which touchpoint they access. Illinois is among the states that have rolled out a single digital ID, and it plans to use analytics to understand service usage and make personalized recommendations.
By centralizing data access, using automation and deploying richer digital offerings, agencies reduce non-value-added work such as employee data gathering. As a result, employees are better able to focus on decision-making and other high-level duties.
It’s A New Era Of Transformation
State government CIOs and their teams are leading their agencies into a digital-first future. They made significant strides during the pandemic. Now they’re increasing those gains by evolving cybersecurity capabilities, implementing GOTS software, hiring and upskilling workforces with modern technology skills, and transforming digital services. Modernizing applications will help agencies accomplish all of these goals, resulting in services that meet citizens’ demands, increase worker productivity and scale with growth. These outcomes are ones any state government CIO can get behind.
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