The state of New York and many of its cities are aggressively pursuing a strategic overhaul of the delivery of services to residents. For instance, the state’s 2022-23 IT strategic plan emphasizes improving IT resiliency in part by getting away from legacy systems, implementing an enterprise architecture, and improving demand management and service delivery, to name a few. The state recently unveiled its new statewide cybersecurity strat...

In today’s interconnected digital landscape, application programming interfaces (APIs) play a pivotal role in facilitating seamless communication and data exchange between various applications and systems. However, with this increased connectivity comes heightened security risks, particularly concerning the protection of sensitive data in those APIs. One of the most notorious examples of API risk is the Cambridge Analytica scandal in the...

Florida is the third-largest state in the U.S. by population, and it continues to grow rapidly – from 2010 to 2020, its population grew by 14.5%. That kind of growth rate might be the envy of other states, but it also means increased pressure on the state government to deliver internet-based, user-friendly services for everything from child support services to renewing business licenses. Bringing digital transformation to the Sunshine St...

Mobile devices are a way of life today – including for government agencies. They are ubiquitous, and many agencies have embraced a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policy that allows employees to use their own. But they have become a rapidly growing target for bad actors – so much so that BYOD could mean “bring your own danger.” For example, in February, SC Magazine reported a phishing campaign targeting the Federal Communi...

As agencies increasingly migrate their workloads to the cloud, it is crucial to understand the implications and benefits of writing natively to the cloud, which enables organizations to optimize their data protection strategies, streamline operations, and enhance overall security. “Writing natively” is about building, deploying and managing software apps in the cloud computing environment. Taking this approach makes it possible to...

Federal departments and agencies are making headway in meeting the requirements of Executive Order 14028, issued in May 2021, to strengthen their cybersecurity by implementing a zero trust architecture. To date, many agencies have made progress in areas like identity management and secure access. But the journey toward achieving a zero trust environment is different for every department. The challenges that civilian agencies must overcome are...

It has become clear over the past several years that maintaining U.S. election integrity is not just a single agency’s responsibility. Conducting fair and accurate elections is the responsibility of each state and territory. Meanwhile, nation-states, partisans, and scammers can interfere with voter information, try to cast doubt on election outcomes, and spread disinformation across social media, to name just a few. The Office of the Dir...

Adopting a zero trust policy has become imperative for agencies aiming to safeguard their digital assets against increasingly sophisticated threats. It represents a true paradigm shift, away from traditional perimeter-based security models to a more dynamic, trust-never always-verify approach. One critical part of implementing zero trust is managing digital identity – ensuring that access to resources is securely managed and continuously...

Federal agencies collect vast amounts of data that often goes untapped because unlocking its full value is complex. But as agencies move to comply with the White House Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence, harnessing the potential in their own data can help meet the EO’s objectives. Agencies can facilitate the use of AI by using their data to train custom large language model...

With a growing number of dams approaching their design service life, dam safety engineers are looking for ways to mitigate the risks related to public safety, aging infrastructure and rising maintenance costs. Modernizing dam monitoring and maintenance practices with digital advancements, including the latest automated condition monitoring solutions, drone-captured reality modeling and digital twins, are giving public sector dam operators tool...