Alex and Amy are joined by NASCIO's Eric Sweden to hear all about the NASCIO Top Ten lists for 2026. There's a big change to the #1 spot this year! We also get some historic perspective on the top issues and technologies, and as always get to hear Eric play the guitar! https://www.nascio.org/resource-center/resources/state-cio-top-ten-policy-and-technology-priorities-for-2026/
Today Amy and Alex talk about the issues that dominated NASCIO this year from AI and EA to procurement and accessibility. Plus we share what was on our Spotify Wrapped lists and our musical ages.
Alex and Amy are joined by NASCIO's program director for enterprise architecture and governace Eric Sweden to discuss the 2025 State CIO Survey sections on data management and cloud services. We also talk Thanksgiving food! Read the State CIO Survey here: https://www.nascio.org/resource-center/the-2024-state-cio-survey/
Alex and Amy are joined by NASCIO Policy Analyst Kalea Young-Gibson to talk about IT Accessibility making it into the State CIO Survey for the first time and what is driving this issue as a priority for states. We also discuss the foundational ways states are collaborating with local goverments.
Alex and Amy discuss findings from the 2025 State CIO Survey on how states use and governance of generative artificial intelligence has evolved since the 2024 survey.
Alex and Amy are joined by NASCIO's director of experience and engagement, Emily Lane, to talk about the upcoming NASCIO Annual Conference in Denver, Colorado. Learn about keynotes, networking, sessions and events!
For our 150th episode, Alex and Amy are joined by North Dakota state CIO Corey Mock. We discuss how Corey's unique background as a young state legislator led him to the role of state CIO, how ND worked with different agencies to established the ND Gateway for businesses to have a more seamless government experience, what is on the horizon and how he survives the apparently brutal ND winters!
Alex and Amy are joined by NASCIO policy analyst Kalea Young-Gibson to chat about her new report Beyond Compliance: The Economic Case for Digital Accessibility. We also get a new government affairs update from Alex.
Amy and Alex talk about Amy's experience last week hosting guests from the Hubert Humphrey Fellowship Program in Lexington on behalf of NASCIO and Alex gives an update on federal affairs. Plus we talk about all the major pop culture news of the last couple of weeks.
Amy and Alex are joined by NASICO President and Texas state CIO Amanda Crawford to discuss her president's initiative around state IT procurement and the report that was released last week. NASCIO held a number of listening sessions between state and corporate members to learn about procurement pain points and how to to avoid them. See the report here: https://www.nascio.org/resource-center/resources/2025-presidents-initiative-demystifying-state-technology-procurement/
Chris Rein stops by the NASCIO Voices podcast to talk about his initiatives in New Jersey. We talk about updating infrastructure, balancing innovation with AI and citizen concerns, his advice for new CIOs and he tells us the most "New Jersey" thing about himself.
Amy and Alex are joined by Georgia state CIO Shawnzia Thomas. We talk about her four years at GTA and how AI has changed the work of the organization during that time. We also talk about her other priorities in the state and her favorite thing to buy for $10.
Alex and Amy are joined by NCSL's Legislative Director Barrie Tabin to talk about the proposed federal 10-year moratorium on states regulating AI. We discuss why our two organizations are working together to oppose the proposal as well as our work around preserving the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program. Plus we look ahead to some fun summer plans. https://www.nascio.org/press-releases/nascio-statement-on-efforts-to-prevent-state-enforcement-of-ai-laws-for-ten-years/
Amy and Alex are joined by NASCIO policy analyst Kalea-Young Gibson to talk about her new report, Unlocking Potential: Empowering Re-entry Through Cybersecurity Training. The cybersecurity workforce gap is growing—and so is the urgency to find new solutions. In this episode, we explore an unexpected yet promising approach: training incarcerated individuals for careers in cybersecurity. With hundreds of thousands reentering society each year and many struggling to find stable employment, priso...
Goodbye to National Harbor, hello to Philadelphia. Alex and Amy are joined again by NASCIO's director of experience and engagement, Emily Lane to talk all about what we can expect at the NASCIO Midyear Conference coming up in Philadelphia. We talk about programming changes, a new city, themes and apps Emily just can't live without!
Today Alex fills us in on the recent hearing on the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program and the testimony from Utah CIO Alan Fuller and CT CIO Mark Raymond. We also talk about making our homes more energy efficient and the new publication coming out on privacy. Find the recording and testimony here: https://homeland.house.gov/hearing/cybersecurity-is-local-too-assessing-the-state-and-local-cybersecurity-grant-program/
Today Alex and Amy are joined by Waldo Jaquith with US Digital Response to discuss a new joint publication on improving the RFP process with a simple summary sheet. We also discuss the importance of user research and who would play us in a movie. See the report and summary sheet template here: https://www.nascio.org/resource-center/resources/improving-rfps-with-user-research-how-summary-sheets-can-improve-solicitations/
Alex and Amy talk with Bryan Zaczek who works as a principal data scientist with the state of Indiana's Management Performance Hub. Bryan walks us through the art of prompt engineering to get better answers from generative AI tools. We also talk about how we are using GenAI in our personal lives!
Today Amy and Alex talk about how the federal funding freeze might affect the Cybersecurity Grant Program and state IT offices. Plus Amy tells Alex about what she learned about the Japanese local government system, their workforce challenges that look a lot like ours and what she was most impressed by in her recent trip to Japan representing NASCIO.
NASCIO's 2025 federal advocacy priorities are released! Alex gives us the rundown. https://www.nascio.org/government-affairs/federal-advocacy-priorities/ Kalea Young-Gibson, NASICO's policy analyst also joins to give us an overview of the DOJ final rule for accessibility for state and local government websites and apps.