Tennessee CIO Kristin Darby described a “dangerous imbalance between highly sophisticated attackers and severely resource-constrained defenders.” She said Tennessee has used federal grant funding to secure nearly 90,000 endpoints across local government networks, giving many communities access to cybersecurity capabilities they otherwise could not afford.
Florida CIO Warren Sponholtz said centralized cybersecurity services help governments achieve economies of scale while expanding access to enterprise-grade protections. He also warned that artificial intelligence is accelerating vulnerability discovery and exploit development, increasing the need for close collaboration among federal, state and local governments.
Although lawmakers discussed potential changes to future grant programs, witnesses broadly agreed that sustained federal support remains critical. They also emphasized the importance of continued investment in cyber workforce development, threat intelligence sharing and AI preparedness.
The hearing highlighted a growing concern among state technology leaders: As AI lowers the barriers to sophisticated cyberattacks, strong federal-state partnerships will become increasingly important to protect government systems and the public services they support.
Top Digital Counties
The Center for Digital Government and the National Association of Counties recently announced the top-performing counties for leveraging artificial intelligence, cybersecurity investments and more to improve government services.
Here are the first-place winners from the 2026 Digital Counties Survey:
- Orange County, Fla. (Population of 1,000,000 or more)
- Prince William County, Va. (Population 500,000 – 999,999)
- County of Marin, Calif. (Population 250,000 – 499,999)
- County of Pitt, N.C. (Population 150,000 – 249,999)
- County of York, Va. (Population Less than 150,000)
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