States, Local Areas See Common Tech Challenges for 2021

Source: GovTech Published: January 13th, 2021

Technology trends among state and local governments dovetail in a number of significant ways in the wake of COVID-19, according to a forecast shared yesterday via webinar by the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) and the Public Technology Institute (PTI). 

The top issue of the forecast was, unsurprisingly, cybersecurity. NASCIO Executive Director Doug Robinson said the results of a late 2020 survey indicate that cybersecurity is the No. 1 concern among state CIOs for the eighth year in a row.  

With the increase of state employees working remotely, the pandemic “created a whole set of new security challenges.” Unfortunately, according to a survey of state chief information security officers, the biggest barriers to improved cybersecurity posture are insufficient budgets and staffing. 

“From the average cybersecurity spend in 2020, it’s moved a little bit,” Robinson observed. “But again, it tends to be in that one to three percent of total IT budget across the board … As you can see, comparing and contrasting to the federal government or private-sector counterparts, it is clearly inadequate given the level of threats and increasing sophistication of the threats and the threat actors, particularly nation states … It’s about the continuity of state government. It’s about a business risk to the state.”

Robinson added that a little more than half of the states have purchased cybersecurity insurance due to the threat of ransomware. 

Later in the forecast, PTI Executive Director Alan Shark confirmed that the focus on cybersecurity among cities and counties has intensified as well. To illustrate his point, he added that ransomware attacks of the past may have involved demands for $250 or $500, whereas now criminals often ask for six-figure sums. 

“And while more and more localities are turning to cyberinsurance, one has to wonder sometimes, is cyberinsurance actually becoming more of a target?” Shark said. “Because if cyberinsurance companies are more willing to pay out, does this signal possible targets for those who have it versus those who have not [purchased insurance]?”

Both Robinson and Shark cited digital services as another top trend among state and local governments. While the pandemic has made such services more of a necessary investment, the citizen experience with state systems needs to be improved, as sites are often fragmented and difficult to navigate, according to NASCIO’s research. 

“The user experience is not as seamless as you would expect to see from large organizations … This is one area that probably has not lived up to the great promise of more than a decade ago,” Robinson remarked. 

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