5 Stand-Out Sessions To Attend at NASCIO 2015

With the NASCIO 2015 Annual Conference comes another opportunity for state CIOs to sharpen their skills by sharing victories and struggles with cybersecurity, data management and other areas. The event, held in Salt Lake City, Utah, from Oct. 11–14, will feature myriad sessions covering those topics and more.

These five sessions are quintessential examples of this year’s theme, “Advancing Smart Government,” hence why they can’t be missed.

1. Smart Cities, Smart States: Adapting Lessons Learned at the City Level
11 a.m. Monday, Oct. 12

As more states push toward being “smart,” they’re taking cues from individual cities' IT victories:

This panel session will frame what Smart States really means and explore how states can fast track the adoption of Smart States principles. Practitioners from various fields will discuss how they implemented smart cities technology and provide the necessary insight to states.

2. Engaged Citizens: Digital Government Showcase and Discussion
9:30 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 13

This discussion will focus on how states can pinpoint and improve certain areas through technology:

Digital technologies have changed the way we live, work and play; there is now an expectation that most interactions can be completed virtually from anywhere and at any time. Government services are no exception. States are capitalizing on this opportunity to transform the way they do business; making processes more efficient, adaptable, transparent and engaging. From citizen-centric applications to internal systems that lead to a more seamless interaction for the consumer, this session will showcase digital innovations from multiple business areas. Research on the benefits of online services will connect the innovations and help states determine where to focus efforts for ultimate impact.

3. Smart Data, Smart Solutions: Increasing Transparency and Engagement
1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 13

As more states embrace IT modernization, sharing data has become imperative. This session will allow states with successful open data initiatives to explain what’s worked for them:

In an effort to increase transparency and drive civic innovation, many states have created open data portals for citizens to access, review and use data. New data visualization tools are pushing this concept even further; allowing citizens to interact with government data in a new way and to create their own visualizations with open data. States leading in these efforts will share planning and implementation tips, lessons learned and best practices around open data, public-facing dashboards and data visualization.

4. A Deluge of Information: Preparing for the IoT Flood
1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 13

Accompanying states' nonstop flow of data are the inevitable questions. This portion of the conference will zero in on harnessing data:

The Internet is increasingly connected to everything including our homes, cars, public transportation, buildings, law enforcement and recreation areas. Along with this connectivity comes a flood of data. How should we store, organize and pay for all this data? Learn about the challenges we are facing in data management related to IoT in this forward-thinking session.

5. Smart Government is Secure Government: Successful Cybersecurity
9 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 14

Protecting sensitive information will always be paramount, so CIOs, CISOs and industry will share defense approaches, principles and practices to help states figure out what suits them best.

Keep up with all of our NASCIO 2015 coverage here.