Procurement modernization, uncovering new methods to embrace artificial intelligence (AI), advancing cloud technology, enhancing digital services for residents, and the formation of a digital innovation fund are the top five state priorities this year, Craig Orgeron, Mississippi state CIO and executive director of the Mississippi Department of Information Technology Services (ITS), told Government Technology.
Modernizing procurement processes tops that list and the state is creating a Procurement Advisory Council with representatives from 30 state agencies, to simplify the procurement process by leveraging new technologies.
“It’s about answering the question, ‘What do we need to do to get procurement modernized and moving quicker?’” Orgeron said. “While the products produced through procurement are solid, time delays and inefficiencies are common challenges.”
AI, Mississippi's second-highest tech priority, aligns with a broader trend gaining momentum across state governments nationwide. Last week, ITS announced a partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and the Mississippi Artificial Intelligence Network (MAIN) to create an AI Innovation Hub. The hub will be a collaborative space for state agencies, private industry leaders and higher education institutions to develop and test AI solutions.
The hub’s formation, Orgeron said, stems from recent legislation — Gov. Tate Reeves’ Executive Order No. 1584 — created through a comprehensive analysis of what neighboring states are doing. An internal working group looked at the work of three states and crafted an executive order last fall, through conversations with the governor and his team, the CIO said. The ITS AI Innovation Hub will help drive economic growth, provide students with AI skills, and enhance public services, Orgeron said in a recent news release.
The state has AI use cases to build upon already, such as the Mississippi Legislative Budget Office’s AI-powered bill summarization application, developed through AWS Bedrock.
“All of these bills get introduced — thousands and thousands of bills, so one of the initial use cases was the bill summary application,” Orgeron said. “It’s one of the sweet spots of AI — being able to do these summaries to pull out pertinent details.”
Advancing cloud technology by establishing a Cloud Center of Excellence ranks third on the state’s priority list. According to Orgeron, this project will transition the state’s approach to cloud adoption from reactive to proactive.
“We’ve got landing zones with AWS, landing zones with Microsoft, and plan on building out a pathway to Google,” Orgeron said, referencing the state’s efforts to leverage the “big three” cloud providers. The Cloud Center of Excellence will address skill gaps, define strategies and help Mississippi adapt to the evolving cloud landscape. Officials hope to have the basic pieces of what that will look like built out by this spring, the CIO said.
“Like a lot of governments, we’re working to uncover who we are in the cloud era,” Orgeron said, acknowledging the state has historically relied on on-prem data centers, including two mainframes still in operation. “Cloud is here to stay and so we’re trying to energize behind that.”
ITS, he said, has already achieved significant success on the state’s fourth tech priority, digital services for residents, via Mississippi.gov, which offers 425 services to citizens, the CIO said. Mississippi’s ultimate goal with digital service platforms, Orgeron said, is to “double down and focus on what our mission is concerning digital services for citizens.” These efforts, he added, will likely integrate emerging technologies like AI and cloud solutions to ensure Mississippi’s digital services are modern and efficient.
The state’s fifth priority for 2025 is the creation of a Digital Innovation Fund. No new dollars will be appropriated, Orgeron said; rather, Mississippi aims to follow the lead of other states by collecting fees from procurement instruments for the fund.
“It’s not a big number, but we’re discussing the value of an innovation fund — being able to have a little seed money to put into these tech initiatives to jump-start them,” he said. “Whether it's for cloud, AI, or whatever is next, it doesn't take a lot. Just a little nudge here or there.”
Mississippi is also taking a new approach when it comes to cybersecurity — launching its Cyber Security Review Board, a critical step in Mississippi’s cybersecurity strategy, on his first day back as CIO. (Orgeron stepped down in 2020 after nearly a decade as state CIO, but returned last June.) The board unites state agencies, local governments, K-12 schools and higher education institutions under a single framework to address cyber threats.
“This is the first time we’ve taken a whole-of-state approach, and it’s a significant leap forward in our cybersecurity maturity,” Orgeron said.
And as Mississippi embraces innovation through initiatives like the ITS AI Innovation Hub, alongside training and new legislation, officials are also working to collaborate more, to bring those tech goals to life.
“We want to connect all the right players and have conversations about what this needs to look like and how we can move with speed on making things happen while bringing a more holistic approach to digital government,” Orgeron said.
