On this week’s episode of the Priorities Podcast, Los Angeles City Controller Ron Galperin offers his views on how his office uses data — and open data — to make the city more accountable.

In the news this week:

President Biden will appoint a chief prosecutor to target fraudulent activity against the U.S. government’s pandemic relief programs.

https://statescoop.com/biden-justice-department-chief-prosecutor-pandemic-unemployment-fraud/

A report from the NYU Brennan Center for Justice says 23 states are using voting equipment that’s more than a decade old and no longer manufactured.

https://statescoop.com/voting-equipment-replacement-cost-350m/

City CIOs across the country are taking on new responsibilities and new titles.

https://statescoop.com/city-cios-new-titles-new-brand/

New this week from Scoop News Group: The Cutting EDge podcast, which explores the trending topics and news across the higher education technology landscape. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

www.cuttingedgepodcast.com

StateScoop’s Priorities Podcast is available every Thursday.

Listen more here. www.prioritiespodcast.com

On this week’s episode of the Priorities Podcast, Colorado CIO Tony Neal-Graves offers his assessment of how the state can close the broadband gap with the influx of federal government funding from the American Rescue Plan and infrastructure package.

https://statescoop.com/colorado-technical-debt-federal-infrastructure/

Chris Mitchell, the director of the Community Broadband Networks Initiative at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, says the funding should indeed be enough, assuming “states are smart” with how they spend the money.

Maryland CIO Michael Leahy talks about his time in the music industry. Leahy, the current NASCIO president, owned a recording studio and was a radio DJ. He still writes and produces music in his spare time. Leahy and other government IT leaders’ work in music will be featured in an upcoming piece on StateScoop.

In the news this week:

Phil Wittmer is stepping down as Virginia’s CIO after less than a month on the job.

https://statescoop.com/virginia-cio-phil-wittmer-steps-down-one-month/

New York state is opening a “state of the art” cybersecurity facility in Brooklyn to serve as an operations center for state and local cybersecurity needs.

https://statescoop.com/new-york-opens-joint-cybersecurity-center-state-local/

New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell is requesting the city reverse its ordinance banning facial recognition.

https://statescoop.com/facial-recognition-new-orleans-mayor-cantrell-ban-overturn/

StateScoop’s Priorities Podcast is available every Thursday.

Listen more here: http://www.prioritiespodcast.com

On today’s episode of the Priorities podcast, former New York City cyber lead Geoff Brown reflects on his time in city government, and highlights what he’s excited about for his new role at Recorded Future.

https://statescoop.com/geoff-brown-nyc-cyber-chief-looks-back/

In the news this week:

President Biden encouraged counties to use American Rescue Plan dollars to prepare for an impending boost of funding from the infrastructure package.

https://statescoop.com/biden-tells-counties-rescue-plan-funds-can-be-used-ahead-of-infrastructure-boost/

County CIOs, though, are plotting out ways to make “realistic” IT spending decisions with that money.

https://statescoop.com/county-cios-rescue-plan-money-realistic-it-projects/

Virginia IT Agency Chief Operating Officer Jonathan Ozovek announced he will leave state government just a month after the departure of former state CIO Nelson Moe.

https://statescoop.com/virginia-it-coo-jonathan-ozovek-resigns/

A Missouri prosecutor announced that he will not pursue charges against a St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter who Gov. Mike Parson accused of “hacking” the state government.

https://statescoop.com/no-charges-vulnerability-reporter-mike-parson/

StateScoop’s Priorities Podcast is available every Thursday.

Listen more here.

http://www.prioritiespodcast.com

News this week (00:48):

California’s former CIO takes over as the state’s operations lead

https://statescoop.com/california-gov-newsom-picks-former-cio-amy-tong-to-lead-government-operations/

Washington state works to bring systems online after a data exposure

https://statescoop.com/washington-department-licensing-records/

Maryland’s new digital services portal is making big progress.

https://statescoop.com/maryland-onestop-michael-leahy/

Bill Vajda, the former CIO of Alaska, returns to state government as Wyoming's new CIO. Vajda will prioritize cybersecurity, modernization and service delivery. (6:45)

https://statescoop.com/new-wyoming-cio-bill-vajda-likes-newness-freshness/

Then, Auth0's Salman Ladha emphasizes the growing importance of identity and access management across state and local government. (23:48)

https://statescoop.com/podcast/despite-massive-strides-more-work-ahead-for-government-on-identity/

This episode is brought to you by Auth0.

StateScoop's Priorities Podcast is available every Thursday.

http://www.prioritiespodcast.com

On this week’s episode of the Priorities Podcast, CityCoins may expand next to Philadelphia after its initial rollouts in Miami and New York City.

https://statescoop.com/philadelphia-citycoins-mark-wheeler-jim-kenney/

Texas’ IT agency has a new mobile application that allows residents to renew their driver’s license, vehicle registrations or professional licenses. More services are coming to the application soon, according to Texas CIO Amanda Crawford.

https://statescoop.com/texas-launches-mobile-app-government-services/

Cleveland’s snow plow tracking website is back up and running after it malfunctioned just a day after its release during a snow storm. The tracker is new Mayor Justin Bibb’s response to residents frustrated with uncleared roads.

https://statescoop.com/clevelands-gis-snowplow-overwhelming-demand-justin-bibb/

Doug Robinson, executive director of the National Association of State Chief Information Officers, and former Ohio CIO Stu Davis discuss the qualities that make a good state CIO. The two offer their perspective on the tactics, approaches and skills public sector technology leaders need to be successful in today’s government environment.

https://statescoop.com/what-makes-good-state-cio/

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards offer their takes on the incoming surge of federal dollars from the infrastructure bill. In addition to spending on roads and bridges, the governors are also going to have to make decisions on how money from $1 billion in state and local cybersecurity grants gets spent.

https://statescoop.com/cisa-jen-easterly-national-governors-association/

StateScoop’s Priorities Podcast is available every Thursday.

www.prioritiespodcast.com

On today’s episode of the Priorities Podcast, the Pew Charitable Trusts are warning governors and legislators to be wary of an impending financial “cliff” after the recent influx of federal aid expires.

https://statescoop.com/most-states-have-a-budget-surplus-but-should-be-wary-of-financial-cliff/

NASCIO’s latest federal advocacy priorities are out, and state CIOs are looking for additional clarity from the federal government on state and local cyber grants.

https://statescoop.com/nascios-federal-agenda-2022-cyber-grants/

Nelson Moe, now recently-former Virginia CIO, explains what’s next for him and his proudest accomplishments in the Commonwealth, and offers advice for his successor and state CIOs across the community.

https://statescoop.com/longtime-virginia-cio-nelson-moe-exits/

https://statescoop.com/virginia-gov-youngkin-phil-wittmer-cio/

Meghan Sullivan and Thomas Beck, both from Deloitte’s Government and Public Services practice, offer their takes on NASCIO’s list of top 10 priorities for 2022. The two highlight the changing landscape for cloud services, as well as the spotlights on what’s ahead for state CIOs in the new year.

StateScoop’s Priorities Podcast is available every Thursday.

Listen more: http://www.prioritiespodcast.com