The physical boundaries of business have blurred. Many organizations now operate as virtual ecosystems with no borders. While this change has helped improve agency resiliency and workforce satisfaction, it upends the traditional security framework and increases risk across every other aspect of an organization. Utilizing a Zero-Trust framework can be an effective security strategy that doesn't compromise user experience or team productivity. A...

This conversation will explore and answer vital questions for the CIOs of today and tomorrow, including framing the best approaches for navigating people and processes. We’ll answer questions like: How should CIOs manage and lead their workforce? How can they best measure performance? What are the processes and methodologies (agile, lean, etc.) that are essential for CIOs? What does success look like?

Government agencies of all sizes face increased pressure to safeguard data, protect mission-critical operations and stay compliant, but doing so can be particularly challenging for smaller agencies. While many larger organizations have the resources to handle cybersecurity operations, smaller agencies are often constrained in their ability to address critical security needs. Municipalities, localities and smaller cities and states all work wit...

Unprecedented amounts of funding through IIJA, the CHIPS Act and more will allow state and local governments to make massive investments in physical and digital infrastructure. But these funding opportunities prompt critical questions and challenges as agencies must think strategically about how to best use this money. Among them: How do you overcome major supply chain disruptions and make sure you have the resources to deliver? How can you en...

State and local governments are tasked with securely connecting one or multiple of five things to support mission-critical needs: People, locations, data, clouds and applications. With a renewed focus on government cybersecurity, agencies face increased pressure to keep those connections secure. There’s growing attention to the physical security of government data centers and an increase in the adoption of cloud strategies that explore v...

Grants compliance can be a heavy lift for any organization. With the recent influx of federal funding for state and local governments, grants compliance has only grown more complex. Agencies must navigate uniform compliance requirements while balancing program-specific requirements or risk losing grant funding, designation as a ‘high-risk grantee’ and audits. Trying to achieve compliance with outdated management systems only limits...

Public-private partnerships (P3s) have long been a valuable way for state and local governments to reduce risk, speed implementation and leverage private-sector expertise for public-sector projects and services. Particularly for communications and connectivity, these partnerships have played a crucial role in equipping governments with much-needed technology. As governments look to maximize their investments from American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA...

The opioid crisis is shifting, not ending. The CDC's National Center for Health Statistics estimated that more than 100,000 drug overdose deaths occurred in the United States between April 2020 to April 2021, an increase of 28.5% from the same period the year before. As states continue to clamp down on abuse of legal prescriptions, the prevalence and variety of opioids and other illegal drugs continues to grow. These drugs and associated drug...

Signed into law in March 2022, the Strengthening American Cybersecurity Act (SACA) legally requires operators of critical infrastructure such as water systems or electrical grids, to alert Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) within 72 hours of any data breach. Organizations that make a ransomware payment have 24 hours to report those details. As local and state agencies of all sizes continue to be target...

Join Governing, Government Technology and Emergency Management for a one-of-a-kind, special issue Summit on Crisis Management: The nation’s recent spate of natural and man-made disasters serves as a poignant reminder that crisis management is a complex and dynamic set of challenges – and an increasingly acute concern to state and local officials. Ensuring the safety and long-term viability of communities requires investment in more...