Government Technology/David Kidd
The work is led by state CIO Katrina Flory, who became permanent state CIO in 2021 after serving as deputy CIO since 2011. During her time as CIO, she has focused on strengthening the state’s IT workforce, simplifying interactions with state government, and modernization.
Officials are heavily focused on using technology to provide better services to Ohioans, Flory said, and advances have been made in the past year.
The state is modernizing its contact center platform that agencies across the government can use for direct customer services; the request for proposals was issued in late 2025 and Flory said the platform will be a “game changer” as it is rolled out.
The state Office of Information Technology (OIT) has also been supporting agencies in the cloud migration process. This was a collaborative approach in which OIT, with vendor partner Accenture, assessed agencies’ application portfolios and identified those that could be modernized and moved to the cloud. Part of the process involved sharing the playbook with agencies so they could tackle these application migrations independently in the future — “teaching them to fish,” as Flory described it.
“Our focus is strongly around collaboration — collaboration with our customers, and who they’re eventually serving: all Ohioans,” said Flory, who was named one of Government Technology’s Top 25 Doers, Dreamers and Drivers of 2024.
Another big project that has been expanding is the InnovateOhio Platform, which integrates data for more efficient interactions with agency services. As the state migrates its content management system from HCL to Contentful, OIT is working with agencies to move their websites.
OHID, a secure way to access state computer systems and applications, is another initiative that has been evolving; today, about 8 million Ohioans are using OHID to access things like tax services and driver’s license renewals.
“And then, of course, as we add digital services and make things available, we’re also looking at the security side of things, and fraud detection,” Flory said.
The state’s cybersecurity tools currently have AI features embedded in them to monitor threat actors efficiently.
Flory said officials knew they wanted “to get ahead of” AI; doing so has been a collaborative effort across state government and other sectors. Ohio technology leaders have been taking steps to advance AI education for university and K-12 students. The state’s data team is focused on data governance and classification policies, and Ohio has formally established its AI Council, of which Flory is part.
While some AI tools, like Microsoft Copilot, are approved broadly for general use, others involve a more coordinated approach from leadership. So, if officials within a state agency want to implement new generative AI solutions, they submit those potential use cases to the AI Council for approval of the initial proof of concept. Then, prior to going into production, they meet with the state’s AI Council subcommittee.
There are currently 92 use cases approved, with 18 under development and 14 proofs of concept, Flory said. Most of these are internal-facing tools to support the state workforce. Agencies are also sharing with one another how they are using the tools so that another unit may be able to replicate a solution for its own work processes.
Flory has been working in the public sector for decades, and while emerging technologies like the Internet or AI often create hype, the CIO said what is unique right now is the amount of interest in AI from members across levels and areas of government.
“There's a lot more interest from the business side,” Flory said, noting that individuals across Ohio government want to understand how to effectively leverage these tools, and are engaging with OIT to do so. “I think that it’s a much more collaborate atmosphere.”
Ohio is also proactively educating state employees on how to responsibly use AI. More than 10,000 employees have been trained using InnovateUS curriculum, which incorporates Ohio’s AI policy. The training also directs participants to explore AI safely in the state’s sandbox environment. Ohio also offers employees hands-on learning experiences, known as Thrive Thursdays, in partnership with vendors to get demonstrations of tool sets — which will later be made available in the sandbox.
Looking ahead, officials are focused on Business Entity ID, which will help ensure people representing a business in government interactions have the verifiable authority to do so. The state will initially deploy this initiative with the Department of Job and Family Services. One goal is to help prevent fraud in unemployment insurance services; it may also help agencies like the Department of Taxation.
“This is a significant project, and it’s really about how we can engage our businesses,” Flory said.
Ohio has also been investing in bridging digital inequities around access to high-speed Internet service in recent years, including investing in workforce training to support broadband deployment needs. State and federal funding has supported progress reducing the number of households lacking access — to approximately 60,000 now — and money from the federal Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program is expected to help the state address the remaining gap, Flory said.
