Many mission-critical applications in state and local government are running on legacy architectures or old programming languages that are difficult to update or scale up due to the pandemic, thus bringing to light the urgent need for contemporary, digital government services.
FREMONT, CA: State and local governments spent 2021 responding in huge and minor ways to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which continued to transform how agencies use technology and citizens engage with government.
Agencies have adopted digital technology for government service delivery, streamlined government online portals, expanded on initiatives such as single digital identities for accessing government services and usefulness, and updated government websites to make them more user-friendly.
But considerable obstacles persist. Continued ransomware assaults on state and local governments persist. Despite the surge of federal funds, acquiring government grants to boost cybersecurity will take time.
The pandemic has highlighted the significance of investments in digital services, collaborative tools, and broadband growth, among other areas. StateTech surveyed state and local government IT professionals and practitioners for their perspectives on the most important technological trends to watch in 2022.
Zero-Trust Cybersecurity Is Imminent
As a result of the White House's order that federal agencies adopt the zero-trust framework, zero-trust is a hot topic in the federal government, but it is still in its infancy in state and local governments. This is nevertheless beginning to change.
Governments may anticipate more states adopting a zero-trust cybersecurity strategy. For example, 67 percent of state CIOs who answered the 2021 Annual State CIO Survey believe that implementing or expanding a zero-trust framework will garner more attention during the next two to three years. In 2023, governments plan to lay the groundwork for implementing the strategy, which labels every user as suspicious unless they will be validated.
This will be a progressive and continual maturation of capabilities. Zero trust does not have to be a one-time initiative, and it most likely cannot be. States may already possess 50 to 75 percent of the technological and organizational skills required for zero-trust, with the majority already in place. Coordination and orchestration of these capabilities will be the next stage in implementing the zero-trust pillars incrementally.
States Plan to Increase IAM Access to Government Services
At the annual NASCIO conference, it seemed like every state was eager to deploy an identity and access management program.
Some states, like Ohio, are well on their way to adopting a single digital identity that residents can use to access a vast array of government services. Others are just starting—however, this appears to be the path many are taking.
Numerous states are developing a single identity, or super identity, that links all pertinent certificates, licenses, and other perspectives of the citizen. States must implement the capabilities required to construct and administer these super identities and the numerous credentials controlled under them.
