Joe here. The sprint to 2024 is on and we are all working hard to close the year strong. It was great to see many of you at the NASCIO Annual Conference in Minneapolis a couple of weeks ago. This month, I wanted to share a few observations from the event.

1. Generative AI has captured the CIO’s attention. 

No matter where you go, generative AI is the discussion topic and NASCIO was no different. In fact, survey findings presented at the conference indicated that 53 percent of responding CIOs list generative AI as the most impactful emerging technology in the next three to five years. The areas that they think will benefit most will be digital services and cybersecurity.

2. Human Services has the most technical debt. 

The NASCIO annual survey explored IT modernization and asked state respondents which areas of their operations had the most technical debt. Perhaps not too surprising, but the ranking was:

  1. Human Services/Public Welfare
  2. Health Services
  3. Corrections
  4. Administration and Finance
  5. Labor and Unemployment

3. Digital services and experience will continue to be a top priority. 

The next three years are likely to be very active as it relates to advancing digital services in state government. From lowering the costs of transactions to improving the resident experience, states are seeing the benefits.

4. Cybersecurity continues to sit atop the priority list. 

If there is one thing that you can count on it is that cybersecurity will be firmly at the top of the CIO priority list (for the last decade, that has been the case). From the need for more cybersecurity training and awareness to the rise in ransomware attacks, the issues are consistent year over year. Looking closer at the federal funding for cybersecurity (SLCGP), states are using these funds to offer more cyber training, conduct risk assessments and for endpoint detection and response.

5. A lot of familiar faces and some new companies.

It is always great to see so many friends, but what has stood out to me over the last few conferences (beyond the growing attendance!) is the evolving list of sponsors and new partners participating in the event. Certainly an exciting time to be working in gov tech.

Here are a few resources and some editorial coverage from the event that you might find useful:

To close our this month’s newsletter, I wanted to make sure you all had our sales and marketing virtual happy hour on your calendar. Our team will cover how to leverage Government Technology’s extensive suite of resources to enhance your sales and marketing strategies in 2024. Register here. Cheers to wrapping up the year strong!