Indiana Chief Information Officer Tracy Burns said local government leaders express a range of emotions when it comes to cybersecurity efforts, including excitement, routine concern, and skepticism, but many are skeptical. He said it was a target.
“They're skeptical, they're excited, they're paranoid, but they're interested in cybersecurity training efforts,” Burns said at the National Chief Information Officer Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, this month. He spoke to StateScoop at the association's midterm meeting. “But we started to see more and more people introducing adoption, some of the skeptics started to kind of pivot and open up a little bit more, and we also started to see more and more push from legislators. I'm starting to see that.''
Burns said that momentum for strengthening cybersecurity in local governments will be lost if local leaders push back due to fears of a surveillance state. But Burns said he reminds skeptics that when they encounter resistance, Indiana's technology department is there to help.
“We're not going to police, manage, or maintain a footprint across Indiana's local governments,” Burns said. “But we have the ability in terms of scale, engagement, vendor relationships, etc. to deliver a superior product and provide superior resources for vendors to leverage.”
