US states urge govt to harmonise security regs

The US National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) plans to make harmonising federal cybersecurity regulations its top priority in terms of its advocacy to the federal government.

The body’s President and Delaware CIO James Collins said disparate federal regulations are a persistent obstacle for states seeking to enhance their cybersecurity posture.

“We are encouraged by the engagement of our federal partners to harmonise cybersecurity regulations and look forward to advancing that work in 2019,” he said.

As part of its advocacy for regulatory consistency, NASCIO also plans to call for security audit processes to be normalised.

Another key federal advocacy priority for the year ahead involves encouraging meaningful participation among state CIOs or CISOs in the Federal Emergency Management Authority’s (FEMA) Senior Advisory Committee and Urban Area Working Group. These advisory committees govern state homeland security grants managed by FEMA.

Finally, NASCIO aims to advocate for the federal government to recognise state authority and ongoing innovation with emerging technology.

According to the 2018 State CIO Survey conducted by the association, artificial intelligence and robotic process automation (57%), the IoT (27%) and connected/autonomous vehicles (8%) will be the most impactful emerging technologies for state government in the next three to five years.

NASCIO plans to advocate for the ability and authority of state governments to act as test beds for the implementation of such technologies in the government sector.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/liravega

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