GTA Update - Sep-Oct 2021

Update newsletter

Sep-Oct 2021 | Vol. 13, Issue 5

State CIO's column

Why go it alone when working together puts success in reach?

When you're focused on tough challenges, it's worth pausing to look around the room. There may be others there trying to crack the same nut. You can probably learn from them and they from you, making the work more manageable for everybody.

That's part of what motivates the annual Georgia Digital Government Summit. It brings together Georgia state and local government IT professionals and business leaders for an insider's look at today's technology challenges and possibilities. This year's virtual event is just days away on September 9. If you've not already registered, I hope you'll do so today. It's free for Georgia's public sector employees. Use the registration button on the summit's webpage.

Remarkable demands on government have continued uninterrupted since last year's summit, and IT has been leaned on time after time for answers. That means we have much to discuss. An impressive slate of speakers from both the public and private sector will lead discussion of a range of technology topics important to us all. And two keynote speakers will get us thinking about how to turn small adjustments into big changes, as well as the possibilities of the new virtual workplace. See more details below.

It'll be my privilege to offer welcome remarks to kick off this year's virtual event. My first chance to speak to many of you since coming to the Georgia Technology Authority this summer. In the opening weeks of my immersion here at GTA, I've done my share of learning from others in the room. I'll go into the Digital Government Summit ready to carry on with new learning. I hope to see you in the room.

We're enabling more efficient and responsive government through technology. Thank you for your partnership.

Shawnzia Thomas

State Chief Information Officer

GTA Executive Director

Summit lets us pool our thinking on technology possibilities

"Getting a little better, day by day." What if you could change that from wishful thinking into a recipe for real change. A featured speaker at the upcoming Georgia Digital Government Summit promises you can, and he'll explain how at the September 9 virtual event.

Bestselling author James Clear refers to atomic habits, and in a keynote address at the summit he'll discuss stacking small changes together to amplify their cumulative impact. A second featured speaker, work strategist Heather McGowan, will encourage letting go of how we've framed work in the past. She'll demonstrate it's time to innovate and embrace the future of work.

Following those opening punches, a collection of experts from Georgia state and local government IT will join private-sector technology leaders to wrestle IT challenges we're all facing. In presentations and panel discussions, they'll tackle topics including citizen-centric government services, connectivity anyplace and anytime, evolving cyber threats, cloud computing strategies, lessons to build on from the pandemic so far, and more.

The program will close with presentation of the annual Georgia Technology Innovation Showcase awards, which honor state and local government agencies for their innovative technology achievements.

This year’s virtual summit will run 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Thursday, September 9, with a break for lunch. Georgia public-sector employees can attend at no charge, and you can register online. Plan to participate, share and learn together.

Georgia boasts two finalists in annual NASCIO state IT awards

Some things are even sweeter when they repeat. Seeing your state IT projects honored with awards is easily one of those. So Georgia state government is understandably feeling a sugar rush, with two of its projects recently named finalists in the 2021 NASCIO State IT Recognition awards. Both will be recognized at the National Association of State Chief Information Officers’ annual conference in October.

The Georgia Broadband Map project is a finalist in the category of data management, analytics and visualization. The interactive online map was created collaboratively among the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, the Georgia Technology Authority, and the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia. When it debuted in June 2020, the map was the first of its kind in the nation. It presented data, down to the street-address level, on availability of broadband service statewide -- that is, which locations do and don’t have access to broadband, for every residential and business address in Georgia. Equipped with that information, decision makers can more efficiently guide expansion of broadband service that’s so much a part of today’s world.

The Georgia Department of Labor identify verification project is also a finalist in the category of digital services: government to citizen. Unemployment insurance claims flooded into GDOL early in the pandemic. The agency had to devise new, more efficient claims handling or drown. At breakneck pace, they integrated the ID.me identify verification software into their unemployment insurance benefits payments system in early fall 2020. It enhanced fraud detection capabilities, and helped GDOL speed processing of verified claims, getting much-needed relief into the hands of Georgians.

It's not if you're at risk, but

where you're at risk

Know your environment. Identify your risks. Successful cybersecurity programs hinge on both, and then taking defensive steps. GTA’s Office of Information Security (OIS) continues to partner with agencies to accomplish those goals and defend state systems and data.

OIS is newly offering agencies a means of sizing up risk in their IT environments. Using the BitSight Technologies risk management platform, agencies are assigned a risk score based on factors like open ports, unpatched systems and potentially compromised endpoints (e.g., staff computers). The service, available to all state agencies at no cost, allows agency information security officers to use the risk findings to more effectively target their cybersecurity efforts.

This summer OIS also launched a vulnerability disclosure program (VDP) in partnership with the State Cybersecurity Board, the Georgia Cyber Center, and HackerOne. Free of charge to agencies, VDP involves collecting the findings of approved security researchers who report vulnerabilities in public-facing systems. Researchers perform web-based, non-disruptive vulnerability testing of agreed state domains. They test per agreed rules. Executive branch domains and public-facing web applications are already in-scope, and other agencies can opt in.

And this month OIS will continue its annual hands-on cybersecurity training exercise, Cyber Dawg. Put on in partnership with the Georgia Cyber Center and the Georgia National Guard, the event brings together state agency security professionals to practice their skills via live-action scenarios like defending against mock ransomware attacks. This third annual Cyber Dawg is scheduled September 13-17 at the Cyber Center in Augusta. Agency participants gain insights they can take back to their organizations to strengthen cyber defenses.

Briefly ...

Through a recently completed agreement with GTA, AT&T will continue providing managed network services to Georgia agencies via GETS, the state's shared IT services program. That's everything from voice services, to internet access, SSL VPN remote access, network security and more. AT&T has capably provided GETS network services since the program debuted in 2009. Under terms of the new agreement, a range of security-enhancing network improvements will be undertaken. More automated network updates and tasks will also be enabled, as well as enhanced service level reporting.

Even the most elaborate cybersecurity strategies and defenses can be skirted by attackers if security basics aren't practiced. Increasingly, organizations are adding multi-factor authentication (MFA) to that list of basics. In an August panel discussion hosted by Government Technology magazine, Georgia Chief Technology Officer Steve Nichols described the state's recent push to implement MFA across state agencies. He and fellow panelists agreed the shift to more remote work has only accelerated MFA implementations. And while it remains just one layer of any cybersecurity approach, MFA is already proving its worth in helping combat the threats (e.g., phishing and ransomware) facing state government employees daily.

The Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget (OPB) recently engaged the Digital Services Georgia team at GTA to introduce a website that consolidates some key data and analytics from across Georgia state government. This new Georgia Data Analytics Center (GDAC) is built on the state’s GovHub digital publishing platform, and OPB used the Tableau tool to create easy-to-understand visual depictions of data. The site presents data ranging from state revenue collections, to state agency expenditures, COVID-19 relief funding, state Medicaid statistics and more. The aim is to make this information easily accessible to agencies, lawmakers, researchers and the public.

A GTA team earned a 2021 Service to the Citizen™: Champions of Change Award for GTA’s Request Official Vital Event Records (ROVER) service. These awards recognize public servants who demonstrate excellence in their delivery of services that positively influence constituents' lives. ROVER enables online ordering of certified copies of Georgia birth and death certificates. Orders are fulfilled by the Georgia Department of Public Health Office of Vital Records.

The ninth annual GTA Charity Golf Tournament is set for Monday, October 11 (Columbus Day holiday) at Stone Mountain Park. GTA is pleased to announce this chance for state agency staff to join with GETS service provider staff on the golf course, raising funds for the State Charitable Contributions Program (SCCP). You can register a team, or sign up individually and be teamed with some new golfing partners. Proceeds will benefit the SCCP, which supports hundreds of charitable organizations providing services across Georgia.