Amy and Alex are joined by Eric Sweden, program director for enterprise architecture and governance with NASCIO, for our annual NASCIO Top Ten episode. Come for the data, stay for Eric's Christmas medly on the guitar! Eric tells us all about what's on these lists for 2025, how the lists have changed over the years and what's staying consistent.

Top 10

Find out where we've been, what we did and all we accomplished as a community in our episode wrapping up the year at NASCIO. Alex and Amy have a conversation covering our events, publications, awards, advocacy priorites and some fun things too. And yes, they tell you what was on their Spotify Wrapped lists too.

Alex and Amy are joined this week by NASCIO's deputy executive director Meredith Ward and Deloitte's Srini Subramanian to talk about the 2024 Deloitte-NASCIO Cybersecurity Study. We talk about the changing role of the state CISO, why budget woes are back and how CISO's are handling generative AI. Come for the great cyber content, stay for the seven minute lightening round where we talk about what they would  be doing if they weren't in technology and what tech they can't live without.

Find the report here: https://www.nascio.org/resource-center/resources/2024-deloitte-nascio-cybersecurity-study/

Today Amy and Alex talk about the new NASCIO report on how states are using generative AI. This was a President's Initiative Report spearheaded by the past year's President Jim Weaver, North Carolina's state CIO.

Find out key findings from the report such as:

• The role of the state CIO when it comes to generative AI
• The most common business practices for generative AI in the states
• Why some states aren't using it more
• NASCIO's recommendations for states
• Trends we expect to see over the next five years

You can find the report at nascio.org/resource-center

The other report mentioned is: Data Quality--Vital to Optimizing GenAI: A survey of State Chief Information Officers and Chief Data Officers.

Amy and Alex sit down with Texas State CIO and Executive Director (and NASCIO's new president!) Amanda "Mandy" Crawford to talk about her involvement with NASCIO over the years, her priorities in Texas and her thoughts on a presidential initiative. And of course, in our Lightening Round we also hear about her thoughts on fall, hobbies and Halloween plans.

Fresh off the NASCIO Annual Conference, Amy and Alex use the magic of Notebook LM to give us an audio overview of the NASCIO 2024 State CIO Survey. Hear how this AI tool summarizes the main ideas in the survey and even plays up this year's "building blocks" theme.

Read the survey for yourself here: https://www.nascio.org/resource-center/the-2024-state-cio-survey/

It's time for the NASCIO Annual Conferece preview episode with our own director of experience and engagement, Emily Lane.

We'll be getting together very soon in The Big Easy! Find out what to wear for the Awards and Recognition Dinner, what you'll learn in the learning lounges and who our keynote speakers are. Plus, you'll learn how to hear directly from state CIOs and where to charge your phone and network. 

This week we are joined by NASCIO's program director for enterprise architecture and governance, Eric Sweden and EY's Chris Estes on a new joint publication between NASCIO and EY called Data Quality--Vital to optimizing GenAI: A Survey of State Chief Information Officers and Chief Data Officers. We discuss what's in the report, data management and the first historical event we can remember!

https://www.nascio.org/resource-center/resources/data-quality-vital-to-optimizing-genai-a-survey-of-state-chief-information-officers-and-chief-data-officers/

Amy and Alex talk about the Summer Series guest list and discuss upcoming NASCIO events and publications. Plus they discuss what they did this summer and their work goals for the fall.

Amy talks with Nate Denny, Deputy Secretary for Broadband and Digital Equity for the North Carolina Department of Information Technology. We talk about the direct impact he and his team have on the ability of North Carolina citizens to get the resources they need in 2024.