The Public Technology Institute and the Computing Technology Industry Association hosted the National Symposium on Cybersecurity in Government last month in Washington, D.C. They highlighted case studies and leading practices, and provided a forum for local governments and the cybersecurity industry to share how communities are balancing the need for security with the need for innovation. On this week's Ask the CIO: SLED Edition, host john Thomas Flynn caught up with some of the local government attendees including Eileen Cazaropoul, the chief information officer for Worcester, Massachusetts, and Alan Shark, PTI executive director, about the ongoing cyber and ransomware challenges facing

Cybersecurity continues to rank as the No. 1 technology issue facing America's local governments, according to the Public Technology Institute (PTI). It's why PTI and the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) hosted the National Symposium on Cybersecurity in Government last month in Washington, D.C. The symposium highlighted case studies and leading practices, and provided a forum for local governments and the cybersecurity industry to share how communities are balancing the need for security with the need for innovation. Host John Thomas Flynn caught up with Eddie Reyes, director of public safety communications for the Prince William County Police Department in Virginia, and Barry Condrey, chief information officer for Chesterfield County, Virginia, on Ask the CIO; SLED Edition.

Call it the loop of "non-appreciation," as it has existed as long as state chief information officers. These CIOs often find that their enterprise plans are stymied by their IT colleagues at large agencies within the state bureaucracy. IT directors at large agencies repeatedly find that their state CIOs are unaware of their agencies’ business challenges, and are more often an obstacle than a valuable ally. Jim Weaver, the state of Washington’s CIO, offered an intriguing solution on this week's Ask the CIO: SLED Edition.

One barometer to use when assessing how serious states are about cybersecurity may be a governor’s selection of a new chief information officer. In the case of New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, his first choice last year turned out to be the state deputy chief information security officer, Chris Rein, arguably the first CISO to be elevated to the top state IT job in the nation. This week he joined Ask the CIO: SLED Edition with host John Thomas Flynn.

One barometer to use when assessing how serious states are about cybersecurity may be a governor’s selection of a new chief information officer.  In the case of New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, his first choice last year turned out to be the state deputy chief information security officer, Chris Rein, arguably the first CISO to be elevated to the top state IT job in the nation. This week he joined Ask the CIO: SLED Edition with host John Thomas Flynn.

The National Governor’s Association (NGA) has expressed new interest in state information technology issues particularly around the subject of cybersecurity. This year NGA instituted a process whereby states are competitively selected for partnerships with the organization to work together on cybersecurity challenges. Just last month NGA announced that it would partner with seven states, including Maryland, to help enhance their cybersecurity strategies. Ask the CIO: SLED Edition spoke with Maryland Secretary of Information Technology and state Chief Information Officer Michael Leahy, and state Chief Information Security Officer John Evans, about how they became involved in this program.

InnovateOhio is the Buckeye State's answer to improving government services through enabling technologies. Under the leadership of Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, InnovateOhio is advancing Gov. Mike DeWine's administration’s commitment. State Chief Information Officer Ervan Rodgers II joined Ask the CIO: SLED Edition to explain his role in the program.

In Arizona, where sand or dust storms are neither irrational nor unexpected, one such event knocked out the state's data center services for three days and as a result was a catalyst for the Chief Information Officer Morgan Reed’s aggressive move toward cloud services. Reed caught up with Ask the CIO: SLED Edition at the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Public Sector Summit last month to explore his challenges and the progress he’s made.

Chris DeRusha, Michigan’s top security officer, is quick to clarify why his title is chief security officer rather than chief information security officer. Like so many other states Michigan had a change in administrations last fall, and since taking office this year Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has made significant changes in the CIO organizational hierarchy. DeRusha spoke with John Thomas Flynn on Ask the CIO: SLED Edition about his office's structure and new legislation which could mean positive changes for how state and local governments share cyber threat information with the Department of Homeland Security.

During the hour-long "Battling the Opioid Crisis with Help from the Cloud" panel at the Amazon Web Services Public Sector Summit in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, 130 people across the country died from an opioid overdose. The event's panelists have implemented cloud-based solutions across agencies in multiple levels of government to securely input, analyze, and distribute citizen data in support of programs designed to address substance abuse and behavioral health in their communities. One of them, Kris Shera, state opioid coordinator for the Washington State Health Care Authority, spoke with John Thomas Flynn on Ask the CIO: SLED Edition.