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Technology Investment Must Go Beyond Single Use Cases

West Virginia CTO Josh Spence on why tech chiefs need to be cautious when taking on new projects if they do not serve a greater purpose for the organization, and how that plays into the state’s resiliency.

West Virginia CTO Josh Spence discusses data center
West Virginia CTO (right) gives a presentation at the annual National Association of State Chief Information Officers conference in Nashville.
One of the challenges gov tech leaders continue to face is the balance between a focus on maintaining what they currently have in their portfolios with what is out on the horizon that may benefit their jurisdictions.

At the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) Annual conference last week, West Virginia Chief Technology Officer Josh Spence discussed how solutions that may seem advantageous for current operations might not really be in the state's best financial interest in the long term. Technology must have broader applications.

“We need to look at and understand how we operate business today, but then forecast where we want to be in the future and let technology take us there,” he said.

By prioritizing what is essential to the enterprise and therefore worth funding, West Virginia will be able to maintain its systems in the event of a disruption or major shift in how technology serves the organization going forward.

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Josh Spence
Lauren Kinkade is the managing editor for Government Technology magazine. She has a degree in English from the University of California, Berkeley, and more than 15 years’ experience in book and magazine publishing.