Eric Sweden, NASCIO Program Director, Enterprise Architecture & Governance, shared results of the NASCIO 2025 State CIO Top 10 survey with GL Solutions. “This year,” he explained “the top 3 priorities remain the same as in 2024 but have shifted a bit in ranking. After sharing the spotlight with digital services last year, cybersecurity is back as the only top priority—and it has appeared on the list all 19 years that we have done a Top 10.”
The annual survey, released December 12 from the National Association of State Chief Information Officers, asked state CIOs to identify and prioritize the most important policy and technology issues that face state government. Other top priorities included artificial intelligence/machine learning/robotic process automation in second place, along with digital government/digital services in third place.
Eric Sweden joined NASCIO’s podcast, NASCIO Voices, on December 17 for the annual NASCIO Top Ten episode. He broke down the results even further, summarizing how the results compared to previous years.
The Institute for Justice ranks Nevada as the second most burdensome state related to “average burdens for licensed occupations,” according to a report from Nevada Policy. Based on that report, the Nevada Globe on December 16 concluded that “on average, a small business or licensed professional loses nearly 900 days to provide a good or a service due to the number of regulations, licensing requirements and associated fees.” The report also noted that the impact of these regulations falls mainly on the poor and middle class, as well as small businesses.
New requirements take effect in Maryland on January 1 for businesses that employ security guards. The new legislation requires that any business or individual that employs one or more security guards or loss prevention workers must license them as security guards. The new “Security Guard Employer” must also register with the Maryland State Police Licensing Division, according to NottinghamMD.com on December 5.
