On this week’s Priorities podcast, two IT leaders from Normal, Illinois, say the future of the “smart cities” movement may be in small cities like theirs. Vasu Gadhiraju, the CIO of Normal, Illinois — a town in central Illinois with 54,000 residents — says that while the phrase “smart cities” means different things to different communities, it indicates an attempt to embrace change and innovation to solve government challenges in her city. Gadhiraju, along with project and resource manager Sara Schelinksi, outline how the city approaches their smart city and data efforts, and how they’re aiming for growth in the future.

StateScoop’s Priorities podcast is available every Thursday. 

If you want to hear more of the latest across the state and local government technology community, subscribe to the Priorities Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Soundcloud, and Spotify.

Why small cities need to be ‘smart’

On this week's Priorities podcast, four state chief information security officers say generative AI presents an opportunity for states to embrace an emerging technology and "really do things right."

During a panel discussion at StateScoop's Cybersecurity Modernization Summit this week, Vitaliy Panych, the CISO of California, says he's trying to overlay security controls into the entire process of how the state is embracing generative AI. California Gov. Gavin Newsom released a report on how the state will approach the technology last year.

Panych was joined on the panel by West Virginia CISO Danielle Cox, Maryland CISO Greg Rogers and Pennsylvania CISO James Sipe.

How state CISOs are thinking about generative AI

On this week's Priorities podcast, two experts from the International Association of Privacy Professionals join us to discuss what's coming down the pipeline this year in state legislatures regarding data privacy, as 17 states are currently considering at least one privacy bill in committee. 

Cobun Zweifel-Keegan, the managing director of IAPP, and Andrew Folks, IAPP's Westin Research Fellow, break down this slew of legislation, and what consumers and privacy practitioners can expect as new laws take effect in the coming weeks and months. They also discuss how the three states with comprehensive privacy laws going into effect this year —  Montana, Oregon and Texas — have been preparing for the new data regulations. 

Plus, the pair talk about Washington’s landmark My Health My Data Act, which is coming online this month and will cement the state as the first in the nation to offer broad protections for consumer health data. And lastly, the experts tell StateScoop about how upcoming privacy legislation is interacting with state level efforts to govern artificial intelligence usage.

Privacy experts on what's trending this year in state legislation

On this week’s Priorities podcast, Debbie Cox Bultan, chief executive of NewDeal, a nonprofit that works with government officials on democratic policies, joins us to discuss how state legislators and election officials are combatting AI-generated deepfakes. As states across the country race to pass legislation that targets the production of AI-generated deepfakes in an effort to curb deceptive information practices ahead of the 2024 presidential election, Bultan says tabletop exercises and public information campaigns can also help. New Deal recently released a report that advises election officials on how to mitigate disinformation campaigns in their states. 

StateScoop’s Priorities podcast is available every Thursday. Listen more here.

If you want to hear more of the latest across the state and local government technology community, subscribe to the Priorities Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Soundcloud, and Spotify.

How state lawmakers and election officials are fighting AI deepfakes

On this week’s Priorities podcast, Christia Hallquist, director of the Vermont Community Broadband Board, and Heryn Herzog, the board’s communications and outreach manager, talk about the creation of the documentary “Connected: Vermont’s Grassroots Effort for Rural Broadband.” 

The documentary, which was released in March, explores the parallels between Vermont’s grassroot-effort to connect homes with electricity decades ago and how that spirit is still alive and well today when it comes to making fiber optic internet available to all Vermonters. Throughout the documentary, viewers hear from a wide range of residents who all rely on an internet connection at home to grow their businesses, access healthcare and education.

Vermont broadband documentary explores role of community in connectivity

Abdullah Hammoud at Google Cloud Next '24

Earlier this month, the North Carolina 911 Board, a division of the N.C. Department of Information Technology, announced the state has completed a yearslong effort to modernize its aging emergency response system to a next-generation 911 platform.

​​Next-generation 911 provides a faster, more resilient system that allows digital information — including voice, photos, videos and text messages — to flow from the public to first responders.

North Carolina’s project to upgrade to next-generation 911 started nearly a decade ago, when a proof of concept in 2015 outlined the transition away from the state’s decades-old copper-wire system. 

Pokey Harris, executive director of the North Carolina 911 Board spoke to StateScoop about how North Carolina’s 124 emergency call centers that receive funding from the state board are now part of the state’s next-generation 911 network.

North Carolina completes transition to next-generation 911

On this week’s Priorities podcast, StateScoop’s editorial staff share what they’ve learned in recent weeks while reporting on data privacy, broadband and other state government IT news. A South Carolina Senate finance subcommittee issued a report claiming that the state’s treasurer, Curtis Loftis, risked a cyberattack by claiming that he would post detailed information about the state’s finances online. StateScoop’s Skylar Rispens joins to break down that story and the current status of federal broadband funding. Several new generative AI laws activate in Utah next week, including one closing a loophole for using AI to commit crimes. StateScoop’s Keely Quinlan joins to review the American Privacy Rights Act and a new report from the Open Technology Institute critiquing states’ online age verification laws.

Contracting controversy, new AI laws, data privacy concerns in 2024

On this week's Priorities Podcast, we're joined by Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee and former Congressman Jim Langevin to discuss the state's new artificial intelligence task force, which was created by an executive order signed in March and chaired by Langevin. "There's two sides of this coin — there is a really positive side of the AI, and there's a potentially damaging side of AI. So we have to get ahead of it on security reasons," McKee says. 

The governor also discusses the traits he hopes the state's new chief data officer will have, a role that was also created by the executive order, and what he hopes the new task force will accomplish in the next six months.

Rhode Island governor on the future of state's AI task force

John Toney, Vermont's new chief information security officer, starts his day with threat intelligence briefs — reading, watching or listening to the latest cybersecurity news.

Toney, a former Secret Service special agent, joined Vermont's Agency of Digital Services last month, at a time when more sophisticated cyberattacks against state and local governments across the United States are on the rise, especially from foreign cybercriminals targeting critical infrastructure in rural communities, such as water facilities.

This week, Toney spoke with StateScoop reporter Sophia Fox-Sowell about some of the projects he's working on, including compliance and procurement. He also emphasized the importance of staying up to date with threat intelligence news and the need for proactive measures to address these growing cyber threats, including identifying vulnerabilities with regular scans, improving security protocols, and reducing operational redundancies through automation.

Vermont’s new CISO shares his proactive approach to cyber

State CIOs are continuing their cautious embrace of generative artificial intelligence, along with all the opportunities and challenges it brings to government operations. On this week's Priorities podcast, two state chief information officers share updates on their latest efforts to improve their IT organizations, speaking from the midyear conference in National Harbor, Maryland, early this month, hosted by the National Association of State Chief Information Officers. Indiana CIO Tracy Barnes shares how he’s thinking about AI, cybersecurity and policy improvements. Later, Texas CIO Amanda Crawford shares how data literacy is a key part of her state's embrace of generative AI.

Indiana and Texas’ foray into the deeper embrace of AI

Each week, the Priorities Podcast will take you through the latest in state and local government technology news and analysis. The program will explore trending stories throughout the week, as well as feature conversations with top executives across government and industry on things like modernization, emerging technology and digital services.

Why small cities need to be ‘smart’

Priorities Podcast

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