Members of the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) are asking the federal government to strengthen its partnership with state-level technology officials when it comes to critical issues like cybersecurity. The advocacy session was part of NASCIO’s midyear conference currently underway in Washington D.C.
NASCIO members met with federal officials from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Social Security Administration (SSA), FirstNet, and various strategic partners to emphasize the need for strong intergovernmental partnerships between the federal government and state governments. State CIOs heard from DHS Director of Federal Network Resilience Mark Kneidinger about federal resources available to states to combat cybersecurity threats. State CIOs also discussed cybersecurity and federal priorities with several association partners including the National Governors Association (NGA), National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS), and the National Association of Medicaid Directors (NAMD).
Additionally, as part of NASCIO’s advocacy effort to harmonize federal IT security regulations, representatives from the IRS and SSA joined NASCIO members to discuss ways to introduce efficiencies into the compliance process.
State governments administer federal programs to state citizens and as such must comply with federal information security regulations like those contained in “IRS Publication 1075” and SSA’s “Electronic Information Exchange Security Requirements and Procedures for State and Local Agencies Exchanging Electronic Information with the SSA.” State CIOs are responsible for meeting the IT security needs of state agencies that deliver government services and have asked representatives from both the SSA and IRS to work together on normalizing the security audit process.
“State CIOs recognize the importance of securing citizen data. We appreciate the intent behind federal information security regulations that aim to protect citizen information,” said NASCIO President and Connecticut CIO, Mark Raymond. “We look forward to ongoing and productive engagement with our federal partners.”
