5 Ways to Enhance Your NASCIO Annual Conference Experience

State CIOs will be assembling in Nashville, Tenn., later this month to discuss their shared challenges and successes with Big Data initiatives, cybersecurity investments and a variety of IT projects.

The theme of this year’s National Association of State CIOs conference: Raising the Bar ... What’s Next. “We continue to excel to a point where each year we have to really work hard at going past what we did the year before,” says Stu Davis, Ohio’s CIO and assistant director of the Department of Administrative Services. Davis is also NASCIO’s vice president and annual conference program chair.

CIOs and some staff from nearly every state, including representatives from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, are expected to attend the annual conference. “The only way to keep improving and to keep raising that bar is really through collaboration,” Davis notes.

As you prepare for NASCIO 2014, here are five things you can do to enhance your conference experience:

Attend the National Cyber Security Awareness Month program.

NASCIO is joining forces with White House Cybersecurity Coordinator Michael Daniel; the National Cyber Security Alliance; the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center; and the Public Technology Institute to kick off the 11th annual event on Oct. 1. For CIOs, cybersecurity is a major issue that presents both opportunities and challenges.

The National Cyber Security Awareness Month launch will include remarks from Daniel and panel sessions with officials from both the public and the private sector. You can register for the program here.

Collaborate with peers and business partners.

“The only way to keep improving and to keep raising that bar is really through collaboration,” Davis explains. It starts with communication, which leads to coordination and true collaboration. CIOs can talk with their peers about projects under way in other states, the challenges of those projects and the success stories. Dialogue among CIOs is critical, considering the increase of multistate initiatives such as FirstNet.

Collaboration is fueled by relationships. “I want the state CIOs to be thinking about how they can raise the bar in their state and region of the country. There is so much we do that can be leveraged across the board.”

Participate in roundtable discussions.

NASCIO is incorporating roundtable discussions at this year’s conference. There will be 25 topics up for discussion, including cybersecurity, FirstNet, Identity as a Service, impacts of the NSA data leaks and government procurement. Multiple teams made up of a CIO and a business partner will lead the discussions, which will run simultaneously at different tables throughout the room. These hot topics are sure to spark discussions long after the roundtable session.

Attend the 2014 NASCIO State IT Recognition Awards.

For a quarter century, the National Association of State Chief Information Officers has honored states that embrace innovation and get results. This year is no different. NASCIO has already announced the state finalists: 33 IT initiatives in 11 categories, including digital government to citizen, digital government to business, cybersecurity and cross-boundary collaboration and partnerships. One winner from each category will be recognized at the conference.

Check out this conference session: Transforming Public Service from the Inside Out

Davis is facilitating a session that focuses on collaboration among organizations that support transformation of state government operations. What common issues drive CIOs, budget officers, auditors, human resources and the acquisition workforce, and how can these groups speak the same language and collaborate to promote change? Panel members represent the auditor, comptroller and treasurer community, as well as the procurement HR and IT workforces. They will discuss ways to collectively transform government through their respective disciplines.

StateTech will be covering this year's conference. You can keep up with the latest by visiting our NASCIO 2014 content hub.