AI has already proven to be a topic of focus at the yearly convening of public-sector IT leaders, with experts talking about how to successfully implement the technology. And while last year’s survey focused largely on financial models, this year’s edition examines how an organization’s structure, workforce and technology portfolio can pave the way for digital transformation.
During the conference session "The 2024 State CIO Survey: Building Blocks of the Next Generation CIO," Washington state CIO Bill Kehoe emphasized a longer-term vision of making government services more digital and mobile, by understanding the current experience and using human-centered design practices to improve it: "It will take not only CIOs but collaborations with governors, legislators and agencies."
The survey focuses on nine key topic areas for IT, starting with GenAI and including digital services, workforce, enterprise architecture, business continuity and cybersecurity funding. It compiles responses from 49 state CIOs.
The demand for digital services is increasing, the document argues; and as such, tech trends like consolidation and GenAI implementation will expand. But for that to happen effectively, states will need to bolster their IT workforces.
An earlier survey found state digital government services developing rapidly, a shift attributed largely to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The demand for digital services remains, but CIOs are facing several barriers in meeting it.
The top-three challenges for CIOs are lack of adequate funding, data quality and digitization complexity, and workforce skills and constraints. As one CIO put it in their survey response, “The biggest constraint here is that digital delivery extends beyond current organizational and financial control boundaries.”
And while only 45 percent of states have created a dedicated team to support digital services, that number has increased 4 percent since 2022. Elsewhere, 62 percent of respondents indicated they have implemented a human-centered approach to design; and 15 percent have even used automation and AI to better understand user needs.
Kehoe, at the conference, envisioned a vital task for AI as executive orders and other policies set up its foundation: “If we can fast track modernization through AI, that is going to be a game-changer for us,” he said.
The GenAI hype seems to be warranted, with more than 60 percent of respondents indicating practices using the technology have been implemented to some extent. This could include the creation of an advisory committee, policy implementation, issuing guidance or inventorying use cases.
For what purpose are states using GenAI? The most common business use is for transcribing virtual meetings, followed by cybersecurity. Other popular use cases are document creation, and management and software code generation.
AI might seem relatively new — at least to many public-sector officials and residents. But some older principles can help guide the responsible use of the technology, California CIO Liana Bailey-Crimmins said during the NASCIO conference session, citing the value of existing policies that guide data security.
“People are using it,” she said of AI. “We just have to make sure people are using it responsibly.”
From a structural standpoint, CIOs are exploring IT consolidation and centralization, due to potential benefits such as cost savings and risk mitigation. Nearly all CIOs who responded, or 90 percent, are consolidating infrastructure, while 69 percent are consolidating services. The trends of consolidation and centralization are projected to continue.
Cybersecurity is a key part of the survey, from identity and access management — which 74 percent of surveyed CIOs are integrating into their digital services strategy — to business continuity in the case of a disaster.
However, to meet state IT goals, the workforce question must be addressed to ensure CIO organizations have the capacity to meet the evolving demands in digital service delivery. This year, workforce ranked No. 5 among CIO priorities.
More than 60 percent of CIOs indicated the impact of the following actions in recruiting and retaining an IT workforce: reskilling current employees, increasing remote work options, eliminating degree requirements where possible, and aligning IT job titles and descriptions to more closely resemble those in the private sector.
It’s not people in the workforce who use AI that are likely to be replaced, Bailey-Crimmins said during the NASCIO conference session: “It’s the person who is not using GenAI.”
One workforce area with potential for improvement was diversity measurement in recruitment and retention; 52 percent of CIOs said they do not participate. The survey also found 70 percent of CIO offices do not have any sort of formal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) program. Because diversity is an important part of the decision process for many job seekers — 76 percent, to be exact — CIO organizations may benefit by prioritizing DEI to attract more workers.
And as underlined in the report, states’ IT workforces act as the foundation for meeting the increasing demand for digital services.
NASCIO members at the annual conference talked about trends to simplify state services via websites and single portals, and of increasing the digital reach of government generally. As one can imagine, a guiding factor in doing so is funding — and that means not only acquiring the necessary funding, but figuring out which agency or officials must administer it.
The question, said Connecticut CIO Mark Raymond, is: “Who owns it going forward?”
