GTA Update - Mar-Apr 2023

Update newsletter

Mar-Apr 2023 | Vol. 15, Issue 2

State CIO's column

When broadband comes to town, we'll be ready to use it

Like most technology tools, broadband isn’t much good if you’re not equipped to use it. That’s why we need digital connectivity and equity planning. It’s a sensible and often necessary complement to broadband service expansion. So with Georgia heavily invested in that expansion to unserved communities across the state, we’re ensuring digital connectivity and equity planning happens in tandem.

What is it exactly? It encompasses the considerations that allow folks to capitalize on internet connectivity in their homes, businesses or community institutions (e.g., libraries, hospitals). That’s access to computers or phones or tablets needed to connect. Making them affordable. And cultivating the know-how to use them – across the whole of a community.

Throughout this month, GTA and community leaders are conducting what we’re calling listening sessions statewide to gather input from community members and other stakeholders on their internet-connectivity experience. From Calhoun to Clarkston, Valdosta to Vidalia, and just off the coast at Jekyll Island, the in-person sessions allow a broad assessment of needs and identification of resources. We can then work (helped by new public grant funds) to create the best match between needs and resources.

The time is right. At the start of the year, the Governor’s Office announced another round of broadband expansion grants. New awards of $234M via Georgia's Capital Projects Fund Grant Program will power expanded high-speed internet service. That continues the momentum of similar awards the year previous – all of them built on federal American Rescue Plan Act funds. Taken all together, this represents an invaluable opportunity to bring broadband to a sizeable chunk of Georgia's unserved locations.

Digital connectivity and equity planning then amounts to taking broadband beyond the abstract and turning it into an enabler of new options in people’s daily lives. Whether that’s for economic or vocational opportunities, education, or digital services ranging from health to financial to government – it’s a broad spectrum. All tightly meshed in the way today’s society operates.

GTA is proud to contribute to Georgia’s broadband expansion push, collaborating with the Department of Community Affairs, the Governor’s Office and many others. Have a look at our online broadband portal for full details, including dates, places and registration links for those stakeholder listening sessions that continue in March.

One other note: You have just a few more days to tell us about the impressive work you’re doing with IT-enabled projects across state and local government in Georgia. We continue to accept entries through March 17 for the GTA-sponsored Technology Innovation Showcase. The showcase awards, now in their 12th year, put your innovative use of technology in the spotlight. An article below describes how to enter. We look forward to hearing from you.

Shawnzia Thomas

State Chief Information Officer

GTA Executive Director

Back to school: State IT employees look to ace the cloud

A group of state agency IT professionals are back in the (virtual) classroom, with their heads in the cloud. They’re there to learn skills they’ll need as their agencies transition to cloud computing. They’re the first students in a new cloud training program introduced by GTA, in coordination with the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG).

The program’s debut course, an AWS system operations (SysOps) class, began this month and provides another learning format for those who’ll help their agencies operate in Amazon Web Service cloud environments. The 8-week course is taught via TCSG’s Gwinnett Technical College, with tuition and textbook expense covered by GTA. Upon successful course completion, students can go on to earn a professional certification by taking and passing an AWS certification exam. GTA will pay the exam fee too.

Open to technical employees at agencies that have obtained AWS accounts via GTA, the program grows from a cloud academy TCSG earlier established with AWS. GTA is discussing with TCSG potential course additions that could include Microsoft Azure cloud skills training.

Preparing agency IT staff to meet the challenges of new operating practices is fundamental to the state’s cloud-first campaign being led by GTA. The GTA/TCSG program complements other self-guided and (virtual) instructor-led training avenues accessible via GTA’s Cloud Campus online training center. That spans both AWS and Microsoft Azure training, ranging from overview to intensely technical. GTA also leads twice-monthly lunch ‘n’ learns that feature a GTA cloud expert exploring technical topics with agency IT professionals directly involved in cloud transformation.

The state’s cloud transformation has seen more than 70 on-premise servers migrate to AWS so far in an initial push to be concluded later this month. Focus will shift to migrating other agency applications and systems to Microsoft Azure cloud from there, with several agencies already assessing considerations to ensure successful transitions.

Showcase puts innovative IT

in the starring role

For agencies and local government entities statewide, pressure is on to innovate. It’s almost a necessity if they’re to deliver services that meet heavy demand, and suited to Georgians' preference for how they interact with their government. Technology-enabled improvements are often the answer. But answering crisply and timely isn't easy.

For the 12th year, GTA is sponsoring the Technology Innovation Showcase to recognize answers that come to life via outstanding IT projects, as well as the teams who give them voice. These are projects that bring meaningful change, improving the way government does business. Entries will be accepted through March 17.

An evaluation panel will select projects that better enable agencies to serve constituents, operate efficiently, and conserve tax dollars. Submissions give state and local entities opportunity to illustrate how they innovatively addressed a business problem. They can show how their projects improve the way agencies work, enhance service delivery, and avoid unnecessary expense.

Projects chosen for recognition in the showcase will be honored in an awards ceremony at the annual Georgia Digital Government Summit in the fall. Honorees will also be included in the Annual State IT Report, and they'll be considered for submission to national award programs.

See complete information and the online submission form on the Technology Innovation Showcase webpage.

The showcase spotlights the brand of stellar work that has raised Georgia’s national profile as a leader in using technology for more responsive, efficient and accountable government. It honors the achievements of public-sector IT professionals who contribute to that lofty reputation. If your organization has projects fitting that profile, get your showcase entry in by March 17.

Annual report tracks IT work

that powers Georgia government

A successful IT enterprise is no perpetual motion machine. In motion, yes, but needing constant new energy. All the while demand for its output only increases. Happily, Georgia's state government IT enterprise continues to spin, click and whir as designed.

That’s illustrated in the GTA-authored FY 2022 Annual State IT Report, newly published on GTA’s website. From cloud computing to bolstered cybersecurity, broadband expansion to effective web presence, Georgia turns to technology for propulsion, and gets good mileage from it.

As the report describes, clouds of the Amazon Web Services variety dominated skies in FY 22. A GTA-led migration prioritized by the Governor’s Office has agencies moving to cloud computing. It brings them new flexibility and autonomy and encourages development of new cloud-related skills among agency IT staff. The shift continues today, aimed ultimately at better serving Georgians.

Cloud didn’t obscure cybersecurity in 2022. The state continued to bolster defense of its systems and data through security policies, services and tools, security awareness training for agency staff, and information sharing across varied governmental cyber defenders. A fourth annual Cyber Dawg live-action training event also drew security professionals from Georgia agencies to the Georgia Cyber Center in Augusta to sharpen their skills in a simulated ransomware attack.

Another section of the report details the state’s efforts to expand broadband access to all Georgians. Georgia made meaningful strides in FY 22, designating significant funding for broadband infrastructure deployment. This funding will help support deploying broadband networks to reach previously unserved locations.

The state’s official web-publishing platform, GovHub, is also highlighted, along with the Digital Services Georgia (DSGa) team that manages it. Home to dozens of state agency websites, GovHub allows a consistent online experience for citizens seeking state government services. Using GovHub capabilities, DSGa helps agencies make essential information available and accessible to Georgians, and cultivates an effective digital presence for the state.

The report closes with a roundup of national attention recently garnered by Georgia IT. That includes Georgia earning a grade of A, the highest possible, in the Digital States Survey which evaluates states’ use of technology. It’s the third consecutive time the survey identifies Georgia as a top state in its use of IT. That’s strong validation that Georgia agencies continue to harness technology to help make government more accessible, responsive, accountable and secure. GTA shares their commitment.

Briefly ...

Slated for May 16, this year's GTA-sponsored Technology Summit will focus on elements of digital modernization including data-informed decision-making, cybersecurity, supply chain, and web presence. The full-day virtual summit is once again directed toward IT and business leaders from Georgia's state government agencies. A former director of a federal bio-threat surveillance center will be among the featured speakers. Industry experts will discuss state-of-the-art use cases and solutions, with additional input from GTA leaders. The 2023 event will be offered at no charge for Georgia public-sector staff. Save the date and stay tuned for more details, including registration information, coming soon.

Raytheon now provides managed security services via the state’s shared IT services program, taking over from Atos. Services include security information and event management (SIEM) and security operations center (SOC), and tools range from CrowdStrike endpoint malware protection to Tenable vulnerability scanning. The Proofpoint security awareness training state employees are familiar with will continue. GTA expects the Raytheon services will promote enhanced security monitoring, response and defense.

At a March 9 webinar, GTA's Digital Services Georgia (DSGa) team continued to illustrate an upcoming web design refresh for state sites hosted on the GovHub web publishing platform they manage. DSGa described to agency website administrators how sites will translate from the current theme to the next. The new “Bloom” visual design will bring fresh typography, colors and layout elements, plus behind-the-scenes technical refinements.

GTA placed three contenders among the finalists for the 2023 TAG Technology Awards given by the Technology Association of Georgia. State CIO and GTA executive director Shawnzia Thomas (Tech Leader of the Year category), broadband initiatives director Josh Hildebrandt (Emerging Leader of the Year) and the Georgia Broadband Program (Tech for Good) are finalists. The list also includes entries from the Georgia Department of Revenue, the Technical College System of Georgia and several Georgia universities. TAG names winners in late March.

For a third consecutive year, GTA has earned designation as a Great Place To Work® by a global authority in workplace culture. The prestigious distinction is based entirely on what an organization’s own employees say about their workplace experience. The recent survey of GTA employees noted flexibility, opportunities, culture and colleagues as strengths for GTA.