‘No Wrong Door’: Nebraska Works Toward Single Sign-On Portal
At the NASCIO Annual Conference in Louisville, Nebraska Chief Information Officer Ed Toner outlined how his state is approaching identity management, envisioning easy resident access to online services.
LOUISVILLE — It’s no small feat to achieve a single sign-on tool in state government, as many CIOs will attest. Creating a single online credential for residents and staff alike introduces challenges around privacy and security, among others, but Nebraska is well on its way to getting there, CIO Ed Toner explained at the National Association of State Chief Information Officers Annual Conference on Monday.
Toner’s team at the Nebraska Office of the Chief Information Officer started by building an enterprise identity management tool for the Department of Health and Human Services. They hope to eventually extend to all of the state’s 77 agencies, starting with the governor’s 21 cabinet, or “code,” agencies. Since the state has already procured the system, they don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time another department comes on board.
The idea is that there would be no wrong door through which a resident could approach the state government for anything from business permits to car registration to fishing licenses. It’s a customer-centric mindset that’s characteristic of Toner’s approach to government. “Would they actually do business with us if they didn’t have to?” he asked in an interview with GovTech in 2019.
Lauren Kinkade is the managing editor for Government Technology magazine. She has a degree in English from the University of California, Berkeley, and more than 15 years’ experience in book and magazine publishing.
Noelle Knell is the executive editor for e.Republic, responsible for setting the overall direction for e.Republic’s editorial platforms, including Government Technology, Governing, Industry Insider, Emergency Management and the Center for Digital Education. She has been with e.Republic since 2011, and has decades of writing, editing and leadership experience. A California native, Noelle has worked in both state and local government, and is a graduate of the University of California, Davis, with majors in political science and American history.
