LEXINGTON, Ky., Thursday, September 28, 2023 — The National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO), the Center for Digital Government (CDG) and IBM today released a report entitled, Preparing for Future Shocks in State Government. The report is intended to help frame what future disruptions may look like for state chief information officers (CIOs) and how they can effectively tackle them.

The report includes highlights of over twenty state CIO interviews on the topic of resilience. The interviews uncovered key themes about the threats state governments face and the tools, processes and resources CIOs need to build more resilient organizations. CIOs are facing issues from future public health crises and cyber threats to climate change, workforce shortages and disruptive new technologies. The research looked at how CIOs approach resilience from multiple perspectives: enterprise resilience, IT resilience, workforce and employee resilience and personal resilience.

Doug Robinson, NASCIO Executive Director, commented, “The past few years have presented a multitude of challenges and increased demands on state CIOs. State CIOs have had to be resilient in the face of uncertainty to lead their organizations.”

“Responsible AI and automation are essential elements of state leaders’ IT modernization strategies as they strengthen resiliency,” said Frank Attaie, General Manager for IBM’s U.S. Public Market. “This roadmap will help state CIOs as they extend their capabilities and agility in responding to future disruptions and we look forward to collaborating with them.”

“CIOs play an important and unique role in state government resilience,” said CDG Senior Vice President Teri Takai. “Our research shows they are working closely with traditional emergency management teams for both cyber incident response and physical disaster recovery. They are at the forefront of confronting public sector talent shortages, and leading statewide discussions around technology modernization to reduce threats to critical government services.”

To read the publication, visit NASCIO’s Resource Center.

About NASCIO

The National Association of State Chief Information Officers is the premier network and resource for state CIOs and a leading advocate for technology policy at all levels of government. NASCIO represents state chief information officers and information technology executives from the states, territories, and the District of Columbia. For more information about NASCIO visit www.nascio.org.

About CDG

The Center for Digital Government (CDG) is a national research and advisory institute on information technology policies and best practices in state and local government. Through its diverse and dynamic programs and services, the Center provides public and private sector leaders with decision support, knowledge, and opportunities to help them effectively incorporate new technologies in the 21st century.

About IBM

IBM is a leading provider of global hybrid cloud and AI, and consulting expertise. We help clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs, and gain the competitive edge in their industries. More than 4,000 government and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM's hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently, and securely. IBM's breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and consulting deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM's long-standing commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity, and service. Visit www.ibm.com for more information.

Media Contacts:

Meredith Ward
mward@NASCIO.org

Laura Gallardo
laura.gallardo1@ibm.com

Jeana Bigham
jbigham@erepublic.com