NASCIO Becomes Data Privacy Day Champion

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LEXINGTON, Ky., Thursday, January 24 — the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) is joining the effort to promote privacy awareness along with a multitude of other international organizations, companies, education institutions, government entities and municipalities across the globe, by becoming a Champion and supporting January 28 as Data Privacy Day. Coordinated and led by the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA), Data Privacy Day is held each year on January 28 and is an international awareness effort to empower people to better protect their privacy.

Data Privacy Day promotes messages about the importance of data protection and controlling one’s digital footprint. As a Data Privacy Day Champion, NASCIO recognizes and supports the ideal that individuals, organizations, business and government all share the responsibility to be aware of privacy challenges and encourages everyone to bring information privacy into their daily thoughts, conversations and actions.

“While providing state agencies with enterprise technology services, state CIOs are acutely aware of the personally identifiable information entrusted to their protection,” stated NASCIO Executive Director Doug Robinson. “Because keeping citizen data secure is a top priority, it’s imperative for state CIOs, to implement the necessary security protocols and measures that support privacy policies.”

Data Privacy Day began in the United States and Canada in January 2008, as an extension of the Data Protection Day celebration in Europe. The Day commemorates the 1981 signing of Convention 108, the first legally binding international treaty dealing with privacy and data protection. More information is available at: http://www.staysafeonline.org/data-privacy-day/landing/

About Data Privacy Day
Led by the National Cyber Security Alliance, Data Privacy Day began in the United States and Canada in January 2008 as an extension of the Data Protection Day celebration in Europe. The Day commemorates the 1981 signing of Convention 108 – the first legally binding international treaty dealing with privacy and data protection. Data Privacy Day is a celebration for everyone and an effort to empower people to protect their privacy, control their digital footprint and escalate the protection of data privacy as everyone’s priority. Intel is a Platinum sponsor of Data Privacy Day. Gold sponsors include AT&T, Microsoft and Google.

NASCIO on Limitations on Liability for IT Procurement – Any Progress?

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LEXINGTON, Ky., Thursday, January 24 — The National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) is pleased to announce the release of updated research into the changes in state IT procurement. NASCIO’s 2004 publication

NASCIO on Unlimited Liability – Gaining Traction on the Road to “Win-Win” recommended changes to the state IT procurement policy regarding limitations on liability, and research from 2010 and 2012 show subtle changes have occurred in the states.

This infographic indicates which states have limitations on liability in statute, which states have none, and which states are able to negotiate limitations on a case by case basis, and compares the current situation to previous NASCIO research. This report is available at: www.nascio.org/publications.

NASCIO State IT Procurement Modernization Committee Co-Chair and State CIO of Oklahoma Alex Pettit stated, “In compiling this research, it became apparent that many states were investigating their statutes and policies on limitations of liability, and that though there have been changes since the publication in 2004, there is still work to be done so IT procurements can more often be win-win situations for states and vendors.”

The research indicates minor changes in state IT procurement liability limitations and suggests that more progress is needed.

NASCIO Releases Federal Priorities: Modernizing Regulations, Cybersecurity, and Collaboration are Essential for States

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WASHINGTON, D.C., Wednesday, January 16 – The National Association of State Chief Information Officer’s (NASCIO) released its 2013 federal advocacy priorities today. NASCIO hopes to put a spotlight on modernizing outdated federal rules and regulations, bolstering our nation’s cybersecurity, building a public safety broadband network, and pushing greater collaboration to expand the maturity and use of information exchange models and secure identities in cyberspace. The 2013 Federal Advocacy Priorities are now available at www.nascio.org/advocacy/current/.

With technology and telecommunications evolving faster than our federal rules and regulations, NASCIO is looking to work with our federal partners to ensure our citizens’ tax dollars are not being wasted due to regulations that do not complement current technologies and best practices in information technology management.

“Cloud services are something our children are using and lightning fast information exchange is a simple click away. It’s past time to modernize how federal agencies work with states to deliver key services from Medicare benefits to homeland security,” explained NASCIO President Brenda Decker, Chief Information Officer for the State of Nebraska. “Current federal requirements and directives mean that states must spend hundreds of millions to build and support duplicative systems. State CIOs know that simple reforms could not only save billions in taxpayer dollars, but also provide better service delivery to the American people.”

In addition, our state CIOs want to build upon current collaboration with the federal government in a number of areas. The most pressing of these is to expand and mature collaboration on cybersecurity.

“There have been 94 million cases in which personal information has been exposed to potential identity theft through data breaches at government agencies since 2009, with a 680 percent increase in cyber threats against those systems in the last 5 years,” Mitch Herckis, Director of Government Affairs for NASCIO. “There is no more significant issue to state CIOs than keeping our citizens safe and their personal information secure—but we need greater collaboration and support from the federal government to deter the increasing threats.”

State CIOs are also looking to collaborate with the federal government on building a nationwide public safety broadband communications network, expanding the adoption of the national information exchange model to facilitate better collaboration across all levels of government, and working in partnership to provide employees and citizens with secure identities in cyberspace.