The new decade offers more challenges for cybersecurity leaders than ever, from tracking evolving threats to navigating budget constraints. Keep these best practices in mind for effective security management.
Effective leadership is never easy.
But for government cyberleaders in the 2020s, the challenge is perhaps more daunting than ever before. From keeping track of exploding cyberthreats to acquiring and retaining talented pros for your public-sector team to championing the importance of cybersecurity to managing budget priorities in tough economic times, the list of responsibilities and expectations is growing steadily.
Add the remote working changes in people, processes and technology that enterprises faced in 2020, along with other pandemic pressures, and it is amazing that security leaders keep coming back each day. So how can cyberchiefs traverse this hectic landscape?
Here are 10 best practices that come from a list of security industry resources, five dos and five don’ts for new and veteran government cyberleaders
Read full story at GovTech…
first published week of: 01/25/2021
Government Technology’s editorial staff looks back on the year that was and the complex ways the COVID-19 pandemic impacted everything from policing and civic tech to infrastructure and telework.
In searching for bright spots from this most disruptive year, those of us doing the writing, and not the doing, got unparalleled opportunities to use words like disruptive, transformative, unprecedented, extraordinary and so many more. And, thankfully, with the bulk of 2020 behind us, it’s clear that the work of government technology leaders gained new respect. Never before has the need for robust connectivity, sound technical infrastructure, intuitive online services and digital literacy been laid so plain.
Prior to the onset of the pandemic, telehealth was slowly increasing in availability and adoption. But the risks to patients and providers of in-person visits during COVID-19 led to a dramatic increase as 2020 wore on.
“The meteoric rise of telehealth during the pandemic has not only helped us combat the virus, but also prompted a new conversation around the future of patient-centered care,” reads a press release from late July from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In fact, nearly 44 percent of in-person primary care Medicare visits utilized telehealth in April 2020, compared with less than 1 percent in February.
Read full story at GovTech…
first published week of: 01/11/2021
The National Association of State Chief Information Officers recently honored people and projects that have demonstrated innovation in technology within the public sector, and named a new president.
People and projects in public-sector technology were recognized at the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) 2021 Annual Conference in Seattle. Winners of the State Technology Innovator Award, the 2021 Thomas M. Jarrett State Cybersecurity Leadership Award and the State IT Recognition Awards were presented earlier this week.
The organization also announced a change in leadership. Michael Leahy, secretary of information technology with the Maryland Department of Information Technology, was named the new NASCIO president. Leahy replaces Denis Goulet, CIO and commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Information Technology, who became NASCIO president in February 2020.
Read full story at GovTech…
first published week of: 10/18/2021
Agencies can digitize their operations while still prioritizing security.
Over the past year, we’ve experienced a shocking rise in cyber attacks by increasingly sophisticated perpetrators. While much attention is being paid to vulnerable large-scale industrial operations, government offices remain a prime target. In fact, Microsoft warned against another potential attack from the same Russian group behind SolarWinds, and this time, it’s specifically targeting agencies.
Breaches at any level of government can put incredibly sensitive information up for grabs. As we saw with the SolarWinds hack last year, many cyber vulnerabilities can originate from technology vendors. Even so, it’s critical that governments’ digital initiatives, many of which were accelerated by the pandemic, continue progressing to meet the needs of constituents. Rather than slowing down transformation initiatives, governments need to be more rigorous in assessing the security postures of prospective tech vendors.
Most government leaders know to look for certifications such as FedRAMP, NIST, ISO and others when vetting a potential partner, but in some ways, these certifications are table stakes. They’re just the first credentials to look for (without them, it’s a sign that security isn’t a priority), but there are many other signals you should look for as well. To truly minimize risk, here are the questions government officials should be asking technology vendors in regards to security:
Read full story at Government Executive…
first published week of: 08/16/2021
If you could build a brand-new government IT shop, how would you do it? From funding and staffing to governance and automation, leading CIOs talked about how they would approach the challenge.
Suppose you had a clean slate to work with. How would government IT look different? How could it be improved upon? We asked state and local government technology leaders just that question.
It’s more than just a thought exercise. Their clean-slate wish lists help to paint a picture of what might be possible. From governance structures to funding mechanisms to hiring schemes, they describe a range of creative changes that could help to put IT on a stronger footing going forward. Here's what they said:
Read full story at GovTech…
first published week of: 09/13/2021
From public health to street paving and payrolls, IT Influencers say that investments in technology before and during the pandemic are yielding tangible benefits.
The coronavirus pandemic has spurred digital transformation in state and local government on a large scale, as agencies, by necessity, moved applications to the cloud and deployed new digital services to combat the pandemic and serve citizens’ needs.
Some of these innovations and upgrades were done on the fly. Others took advantage of investments made before the pandemic struck that turned out to be providential.
We surveyed some of the IT leaders who appear on our 2021 State and Local Government IT Influencer List to get a sense of the lessons they have learned and the insights they have gained on technology and citizen service delivery as the pandemic has continued to unfold.
Read full story at StateTech…
first published week of: 09/13/2021
So you've got investors calling and emailing about your company. Now you'll need to prepare to talk to them. Here's how to cover financials, technical details and your story when talking with interested parties.
In last month’s article, we talked about the five types of folks who might want to buy a gov tech business. Now that you understand these groups, you’ve decided to respond to the emails and set up introduction calls.
Just like a job interview, you should prepare and have answers to the common questions you’ll be asked.
As such, here’s my quick guide to understanding the five most common questions you’ll receive and tips on answering.
Read full story at GovTech…
first published week of: 04/12/2021
When the dust settled, literally, in the Capitol Building, the same old Congress was still there – with its partisanship and old fashioned modes of working. One local institution wants to help the beleaguered Congress with several 21st Century strategies. And as Congress seeks to modernize itself – or at least some members and think-tankers hope it does – it will inevitably hit the need for an infusion of contemporary technology. But that will be a hard buy and a hard sell to industry.
Federal Drive with Tom Temin spoke with Lorelei Kelly, the director of Congressional Modernization at Georgetown University’s Beeck Center for Social Impact and Innovation, about it.
Read full story at Federal News Network…
When the dust settled, literally, in the Capitol Building, the same old Congress was still there – with its partisanship and old fashioned modes of working. One local institution wants to help the beleaguered Congress with several 21st Century strategies. And as Congress seeks to modernize itself – or at least some members and think-tankers hope it does – it will inevitably hit the need for an infusion of contemporary technology. But that will be a hard buy and a hard sell to industry.
Federal Drive with Tom Temin spoke with Lorelei Kelly, the director of Congressional Modernization at Georgetown University’s Beeck Center for Social Impact and Innovation, about it.
Read full story at Federal News Network…
first published week of: 02/01/2021
State and local agencies should siphon the “sludge” and transform how citizens interact with government.
Curbside pickups, online doctor’s appointments and watching new Hollywood blockbusters from the comfort of our living rooms have become the norm. People no longer need to venture into a physical store to get what they need; they can just use their smartphones.
The public sector has been slower than businesses to adapt to changing consumer habits. That’s evidenced by a recent report from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, which found only 2 percent of forms on government websites fully comply with a 2018 law to transition to digital forms. That’s the definition of sludge: Adding unnecessary friction to a process that, thanks to technology, should be much easier.
Fortunately, there’s a sea of change happening at the state and local levels. The coronavirus pandemic significantly accelerated efforts to digitize citizen services, forcing many agencies to scrap their five-year technology roadmaps and compress innovation into a matter of months.
Read full story at StateTech…
first published week of: 10/18/2021
The Air Force's first chief software officer, Nicolas Chaillan, will step down from his role in October, FCW has learned. His last day is planned for Oct. 2.
"We are the largest software organization on the planet, and we have almost no shared repositories and little to no collaboration across DOD Services," Chaillan wrote in a resignation memo obtained by FCW.
"At this point, I am just tired of continuously chasing support and money to do my job. My office still has no billet and no funding, this year and the next."
Chaillan started his position in 2018 with the mission of making DevSecOps the standard business practice and expanding the Kessel Run software factory model across the Air Force.
Read full story at FCW…
first published week of: 09/13/2021