States Fail to Meet Recommended Cybersecurity Goals

Of the 48 states taking part in a review, 22 of those reached or surpassed recommendations for minimum security standard levels. According to Government Technology on December 20, 48 states participated in the Nationwide Cybersecurity Review. The NCSR ranks governments from one to seven. Twenty-two scored 5 or higher, meaning “states have documented policies and procedures and are in the process of aligning them with a formal security framework. States scoring below 5 might not yet have a formal cybersecurity policy in place or may still be working on documenting standards and procedures that support the policy.”

Texas Ranks First in State Occupational Licensing Index

Texas ranks number one overall for all states and Puerto Rico in the 2024 State Occupational  Licensing Index from the Archbridge Institute; the score places Texas first among states for the highest occupational licensing burden. Besides the overall ranking, the report also features a state profile ranking that puts states in one of five quintiles. Texas falls at the bottom of that ranking system, scoring the “most occupational licensing” with a quintile ranking of 1. The quintile system reviews several factors, including barriers and licenses, along with universal recognition reforms. The licensing index, released in August, contains information on 284 occupations.

Improving Accessibility of State Government Online Forms

The second annual FormFest brought government experts together to share best practices for creating government forms. Presentations ranged from harnessing AI to improving accessibility. According to the host of the event, Code for America, only 2% of government forms are currently digitized; because of this, the event focused on the need to bring forms online—and optimized for mobile use. The event featured 70 speakers from over 20 organizations.

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