A look at the agenda for the 2024 National Association of State CIOs (NASCIO) midterm conference held in Maryland last week shows that all roads now lead to generative AI (GenAI).
But to backtrack a little bit and for those of you who haven't been a part of these public sector CEO conversations or don't understand the importance of them, the discussions and sessions at NASCIO conferences are , is paramount to state government technology strategy and planning. In fact, these state government technology, security, and privacy trends and best practices can be compared to the importance of the NFL Draft to fans of college and professional football.
Nasio mid-2024
To highlight good reporting, government technology As part of the 2024 Midyear Conference, and due to my last-minute plans to attend the RSA conference in San Francisco next week, I have summarized the main topics and excerpts from over two days of discussion here. I would like to introduce this along with my personal opinion. They are scattered throughout.
As I shared on LinkedIn last Tuesday and wrote in the comments, the opening keynote by Teresa Payton was probably my favorite session. She highlighted the many positive aspects of her GenAI, as well as some scary cyber trends. There's more in the govtech.com article “NASCIO speakers sprinkle warning on AI optimism.” An excerpt is shown below.
“She warned that while artificial intelligence technology will assist public authorities in a variety of tasks, from routine to new, it will also provide greater access to cybercriminals.
“For example, ChatGPT can provide the equivalent of targeted marketing to digital thieves. They can craft cons in specific audience or regional languages, such as writing in different dialects of English.
“In her example, criminals were able to use what she called the Texas English Matthew McConaughey to appeal to the people of Texas by referencing an actor known for his distinctly Southern speech.
“Digital criminals may be able to construct ‘synthetic’ identities from real ones and even find work from remote locations, making it a challenge for public authorities, technology providers and other organizations in the never-ending fight against fraud. “It presents new challenges,” Payton said.
Video conversation between NASCIO and state CIOS
Below are some great articles with video interviews with CIOs on a variety of hot topics.
Other hot topics mid-year
Last week's NASCIO midterm meeting featured several other hot topics in breakout sessions and hallway conversations. These conversations included identity management, fraud prevention, deepfakes created with GenAI, data governance, and more.
NASCIO's mission statement is also discussed in this article, highlighting the expanding role of state CIOs.
“At the group's 2024 midterm meeting in Maryland, state CIOs discussed the impact of the revised NASIO mission statement, according to Stephanie Dedmon, Tennessee CIO and former NASIO president. This is the first such change in at least 12 years.
“NASCIO describes its mission as 'advancing excellence in government through trusted collaboration, partnership, and technology leadership.'”
finally, government tech's top 25 Doers, Dreamers, and Champions of 2024 were announced last week. Below is a list that includes several of his CISOs.
final thoughts
My busy week ended with a keynote address on ransomware at the Public Technology Institute (PTI) AI and Cyber Summit in Washington, DC. This was an event for city and county leaders that echoed many of the same messages as the NASCIO Midyear event.
The bottom line is, as I said at the beginning, all roads now lead to GenAI.
