Priorities Podcast

After the devastating Hurricane Helene struck North Carolina last September, Gary Thompson, the state’s deputy hazard mitigation officer, says on StateScoop’s Priorities Podcast that the state hopes to make its stream gauges and flood warning system more resilient before next year’s storm season. Thompson says North Carolina plans to upgrade those critical communication systems with ultrasonic rad...

This year’s presidential election was the most secure on record, according to John Cohen, executive director of a program for countering hybrid threats at the nonprofit Center for Internet Security. On StateScoop’s Priorities Podcast, Cohen explains that despite receiving more than 100 bomb threats, years of preparation for Election Day 2024 enabled local election officials and law enforcement to...

As Code for America and Georgetown University’s Beeck Center for Social Impact and Innovation kick off their second annual FormFest on Wednesday, StateScoop checks in with Amanda Renteria, Code for America’s chief executive, to hear about this year’s event will be different. Renteria says the goal this year is to drive government agencies to action, making their forms digital and accessible. “How...

On this week's Priorities Podcast, a researcher from the International Association of Privacy Professionals says that the past year has brought "novel innovations" in state privacy laws as each state attempts to solve the growing challenges of protecting personal information collected by businesses and other organizations. Muge Fazlioglu, a principal researcher for privacy law and policy at the as...

On the latest episode of StateScoop’s Priorities podcast, Maryland’s Senior Director of State Cybersecurity Lance Cleghorn talks about the state’s first bug bounty program, which saw white-hat hackers discovering over 40 vulnerabilities on the state’s websites. Cleghorn says the program was inspired by a similar program called “Hack the Pentagon,” that he and Maryland’s chief information officer,...

On the latest episode of StateScoop’s Priorities podcast, Jay Stanley, senior policy analyst at the American Civil Liberties Union, talks about a new report he authored for the organization that contains legislative recommendations for states rolling out digital ID programs. Since the release of the ACLU’s last report on the programs in 2021, several states have added digital ID capabilities, but...

One year after publishing an artificial intelligence “action plan” last October, an official from New York City’s Office of Technology & Innovation says work is progressing ahead of schedule. Alex Foard, the office’s executive director of research and collaboration, says 30 of 37 actions were completed, one more than than the office had planned for in the initiative’s first year. Foard said the ci...

On the latest episode of StateScoop’s Priorities podcast, Samuel Alva, a technical adviser with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, explains the “huge” threat facing the nation’s tens of thousands of water utilities, and what they can do to protect themselves. “Water is a single point of failure. So that's why it has been under attack,” he says. CISA is among the organizations as...

During his four-and-a-half years as South Dakota’s chief information officer, Jeff Clines says he watched as the neighboring Wyoming churned through several of its own CIOs. Now roughly one month into the CIO role in Wyoming, Clines says one of his top priorities is to bring stability to the state’s IT. “[I’ve been] trying to understand why there was so much turnover in the leadership in Wyoming....

Data ‘a strategic asset’ for state government, says CIO South Dakota Chief Information Officer Madhu Gottumukkala says on StateScoop’s Priorities Podcast that his state’s data governance efforts aren’t only about protecting against threats to cybersecurity and data privacy, but that he’s also striving to transform the state’s data into a “strategic asset.” Gottumukkala says building the “foundatio...

Utah Chief Information Officer Alan Fuller says on StateScoop’s Priorities Podcast that meeting with agencies to develop IT strategic plans specific to their needs has been an illuminating project that’s helping him better understand their challenges. “Just having the conversations has been really useful. And in some cases, you know, we weren't fully in alignment, or we didn't realize exactly wher...

Researchers from the Washington nonprofit Center for Democracy & Technology join this week’s Priorities Podcast to break down a recent report showing the many ways that large language models struggle to parse complex rules about voting with disabilities. Tim Harper, senior policy analyst who leads the center’s elections and democracy work, and Ariana Aboulafia, an attorney who leads its disability...

Connecticut Chief Information Security Officer Gene Meltser became the state’s top information security official last month. He says on StateScoop’s Priorities Podcast that although he’s joining a mature cybersecurity organization, he’s starting with the fundamentals. “I’m planning on starting with fundamentals, essentially ensuring that we’re taking care of the core components of security, things...

After an announcement last month that Maryland is expanding its digital services efforts with five new hires, the state’s digital experience officer joins StateScoop’s Priorities Podcast to share what that expansion looks like. Marcy Jacobs, who oversees the state’s Office of Digital Experience, says her team is taking a targeted approach. “I think that is kind of a big shift from traditional kind...

On this week's Priorities Podcast, New Jersey Chief Innovation Officer Dave Cole shares the progress of his Office of Innovation. He says his office is expanding, with plans to add 20 additional staff members, to bolster projects like a recent streamlining of the state's unemployment insurance application. He says generative artificial intelligence sometimes aids the office's work, which is rampin...

A new law in Missouri went into effect Wednesday, granting the state auditor more authority to audit local governments. The state’s current auditor, Scott Fitzpatrick, joins this week’s Priorities Podcast to explain how the changes will allow his office to conduct audits without overly burdening whistleblowers. Among the provisions in the new law are controversial protections for whistleblowers, s...

After receiving a cease-and-desist order this month, the office of Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger now has just days to decommission a web page that allows users to cancel voter registrations. Julie Houk, managing counsel for election protection with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights under Law, says on StateScoop’s Priorities podcast the form possibly violates legal and ethical...

Automation bias, a tendency to favor the output of computer algorithms over other factors, is among the top concerns of Washington state’s chief privacy officer as the state establishes its policies for generative artificial intelligence. On this week’s Priorities Podcast, Washington state Chief Privacy Officer Katy Ruckle says she’s worried people could become too comfortable with generative AI....

As California firefighters continue to douse the Park Fire, one of the largest in the state's history, a deputy chief with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection joins the Priorities podcast to share how new technologies are aiding those efforts. Marcus Hernandez, who leads the Office of Wildfire Technology Research and Development, says a lot has changed over the past year, inc...

On this week’s Priorities Podcast, Los Angeles Chief Information Officer Ted Ross shares the results of his recent trip to Armenia. As part of a democracy forum hosted by the U.S. State Department, Ross traveled to the capital city of Yerevan, where he met with government leaders to discuss how digital services can boost the public’s trust in government and help bolster the principles of democracy...

On this week's Priorities Podcast, North Dakota Chief Information Officer Gregory Hoffman says that in his first weeks in the role, he's centering his attention on a whole-of-state approach to cybersecurity and exploring how generative artificial intelligence can further the state's mission. Later in the episode, Zach Boyd, director of the Utah Office of Artificial Intelligence Policy, shares his...

As state and local governments race to incorporate generative AI into their operations, so too are political campaigns using the technology in their election materials. Election administrators are readying themselves for the technology's misuse in spreading misinformation and disrupting the democratic process. On this week's Priorities Podcast, Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs and Mekela...

On this week’s Priorities Podcast, Mississippi Chief Information Officer Craig Orgeron says it was the challenge of government service that brought him back into the fold after retiring from the role four years ago. Changes brought by the COVID-19 pandemic and the popularization of generative artificial intelligence have transformed government over the past four years, creating a new set of challe...

Data breaches and fraud are on the rise, with synthetic identity fraud representing the biggest fraud trend in 2024. On this week’s Priorities podcast, Jeffrey Huth, a senior vice president at TransUnion, breaks down a recent report from the credit bureau outlining several rising threats facing the public sector. Huth says artificial intelligence is further complicating matters, and that it “will...

On this week's Priorities podcast, the soon-to-be chief technology officer of Seattle, Rob Lloyd, reflects on his time as the deputy city manager of San Jose, California. As Lloyd looks ahead to his new role in Seattle starting June 24, he shares with StateScoop what attracted him to the job in the Pacific Northwest, including Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell's Seattle One Plan, a comprehensive plan th...