The National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) released its annual survey of state CIO priorities. As expected, security remains the top priority, however, cloud services moved into position as a close second.
NASCIO utilizes the annual list of priorities to develop strategic areas of focus for the coming year, formulate new committees and working groups and plan NASCIO conference sessions and publications.
In past years, there has been a noticeable gap in the votes for the number one spot and the runner-up. Not this year. This emphasis on cloud services and the continuing strong position of budget and cost control are indicative that CIOs are still concerned about maintaining cost and quality of services. This is further supported by the fact that agile is on the top ten for the third year in a row. Shared services comes in sixth after being off the top ten for three years. There is a definite growing trend toward consolidating and unifying services across the enterprise.
Creating a framework for digital services also made the top ten as governments look for ways to create a more unified public face that leverages modern modes of access across desktop computers, tablets, and mobile. These efforts are supported by broadband connectivity which also made the list, further evidence that states are still working on getting individuals and critical infrastructure reliably connected.
“There is an overarching continued consistency in the areas of budget and cost control, security and risk management,” remarked NASCIO Executive Director Doug Robinson. “Digital government appears for the first time as priority four which is indicative of states’ efforts to focus on citizen services using digital platforms and integration.”
