SLCGP Money Goes to Training, Assessments, Policy Development
As the deadline for year two funding approaches, Washington CISO Ralph Johnson talks about the state’s spending priorities with historic federal support for cybersecurity as the NASCIO Midyear conference gets underway in National Harbor, Md.
NATIONAL HARBOR, MD. — Generative AI may be the technology of the moment, but so far it hasn't bumped cybersecurity from its top spot on government CIO priority lists.
"I agree it [generative AI] is important, we have to understand it, we have to embrace it, because it’s here, it’s not going away," said Washington Chief Information Security Officer Ralph Johnson, "but we still need to consider the basics of security."
At the NASCIO Midyear conference in National Harbor this week, Johnson expanded on some of that work that is in progress throughout Washington.
One item on his agenda is the upcoming review of applications for year two of the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program. In Washington, those applications are due on May 10.
Here, he breaks down the "complete pass-through" the state did in the program's first year, providing the funds to local governments to bolster the maturity of their cyber programs in several key areas.
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.
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.
