MANAGEMENT UPDATE.

STATE CIO TOP TEN PRIORITIES FOR 2024

For the last 18 years, NASCIO has been publishing its list of CIO Top Priorities, usually in December. In 2024, cybersecurity is listed as the top priority (as it has been for eleven years), but digital government/digital services is now also tied for the top position in the list, moving up from a close number two. The selection is based on votes from 49 state and territory CIOs, who choose among thirty possible top priority contenders.

Each year the list itself is interesting, but we are always particularly drawn to the changes that occur as time passes. Cybersecurity (or security as it was labeled then) did not vault into the first spot until 2014.

This year, Consolidation/Optimization of services, which often held the top spot in the early years of the list vanished from the top ten for the first time. As Doug Robinson, executive director of NASCIO, explained to us “for many states consolidation and optimization is now just business as usual.” It’s still important, but because consolidation initiatives are more routine, it is less likely to be considered a top initiative.

Two other interesting changes surfaced in the 2024 list, including the sudden appearance of Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning/Robotic Process Automation in the third spot. “It went from not being on the list at all to number three,” Robinson said. “I expected to see it on the list, but I didn’t expect to see it move so quickly. That was definitely a surprise.”

One other frequent top priority of the recent past, “Budget, Cost Control and Fiscal Management (ranked Number Five in 2020) has been off the list since then, probably due to the large amounts of federal aid that have helped states during pandemic years. As federal dollars wane away, it wouldn’t be a shock to see that item reappear in future iterations.

Here in order is the 2024 Priority list, with more description of each category available here.