NASCIO, PTI on What's Coming in 2024 for State and Local IT

Every January, NASCIO and PTI release their forecasts for the coming year based on what government leaders are saying. So what’s coming in 2024? Here’s a roundup of top CIO priorities.

January 28, 2024 •

robotic hand drawing a line from 2023 to 2024

When Doug Robinson speaks, the government technology community listens. He has been the exceptional executive director of the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) for two decades, and I know of no one who has more knowledge, better relationships, and greater feel for the overall pulse of state government CIO agendas.

Doug leads a team of experts that are simply amazing at supporting the NASCIO Executive Committee, which is composed of top state CIOs from around the country. Almost as important, he maintains essential relationships with the NASCIO Corporate Leadership Council (private-sector members), numerous nonprofits that support other aspects of government (such as NASBO and NASACT), as well as federal and local government agencies, liaisons and more.

At the start of every year, Doug is joined by Alan Shark, another outstanding government IT expert, to provide a forecast regarding what the coming year will bring for government CIOs and their teams.

Alan is the executive director of the Public Technology Institute (PTI), which is a division of Fusion Learning Partners. PTI focuses on working with local government CIOs and equipping technology leaders with best practices and training. Alan has headed PTI for some 19 years and brings 30-plus years of experience in technology and public management.

Alan is a recognized author, speaker, blogger and podcast host, and has spent most of his career in nonprofit management. He has also taught technology and public management for over 14 years and is currently associate professor at the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University. In addition to PTI and teaching, Alan is co-chair and fellow of the Standing Panel on Technology Leadership for the National Academy of Public Administration.

WHAT’S COMING IN 2024 GOVERNMENT IT?

Jumping right into the content, you can find the "State of the States Forecast" here at the NASCIO Resources page. In addition to watching the YouTube video (embedded below), I encourage you to download the PowerPoint slide decks from both NASCIO and PTI, available at the link.

The session is described on the website as “2024 Technology Forecast for State and Local IT: Cloudy Skies With a Mix of Modernization and a Lot of AI”:

“NASCIO and PTI present our annual preview of the issues and priorities that will impact state and local government IT in the coming year. We will explore the trends, pain points, as well as opportunities that promise to make 2024 an exciting year for the government IT community.

“The forecast webinar will highlight key findings from NASCIO and PTI research, based on surveys, interviews with technology executives and what we are hearing from our private-sector partners. The intent: to provide participants with a picture of state and local government IT in 2024 — and beyond.”

While I urge readers to watch the full video and view the NASCIO and PTI slide decks, here are a few of the highlights.

NASCIO CIO Top 10 for 2024 (see more detail on each in this PDF that also includes the 2024 Priority Technologies, Applications and Tools on page 2):

1. Tie: Cybersecurity and Risk Management and Digital Government/Digital Services
3. Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning/Robotic Process Automation
4. Legacy Modernization
5. Workforce
6. Data Management/Data Analytics
7. Broadband/Wireless Connectivity
8. Identity and Access Management
9. Cloud Services
10. CIO as Broker/New Operating Model

Top City and County IT Priorities (biannual survey from 2023):

Cybersecurity
Modernizing Outdated Systems
Innovation
IT Workforce — Recruitment and Retention
Launching or upgrading digital services
Migrating systems/applications to the cloud
Addressing integrating disparate systems
Addressing data silos

Another area of focus is the NASCIO 2024 Federal Advocacy Priorities. The NASCIO website describes these this way: “Each year NASCIO releases our federal advocacy priorities, which are a collection of initiatives approved by NASCIO’s Executive Committee. These priorities represent significant areas of focus — largely on cybersecurity and information technology (IT) needs — for NASCIO to highlight and collaborate with federal agencies, Congress, the White House and our strategic partners. For more information on the 2024 advocacy priorities, please click each item below.”

You can watch a video on this topic posted on LinkedIn here from Alex Whitaker, who is NASCIO's excellent director of government affairs.

FINAL THOUGHTS

There is much more to say about each of these topics, but I again urge you to watch the YouTube video (embedded above) of this session. Also utilize the resources that NASCIO and PTI make available.

This material is more than excellent. It should be required reading for everyone in the state and local government IT and cybersecurity communities. Whether you are a government employee or a private-sector contractor or media resources, these insights are vital to performing your duties over the coming year. As I have written and said on many occasions, we are in a marathon, not a sprint, and understanding these concepts will help improve productivity, quality and innovation in government services.

I want to thank Doug and Alan for taking the time to offer their annual forecast each January. Great work as always!