Driving digital acceleration

2021 State CIO survey

Executive summary

2021 was a year that continued to be dominated by the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this twelfth annual state chief information officer (CIO) survey, we received the perspective of 49 state and territory CIOs on the short- and long-term impact of the pandemic for state CIO organizations. We also received updates from CIOs on many of the traditional topics covered by the survey, including digital transformation, adoption of cloud, emerging technologies and legacy modernization. A major theme of this year’s survey is whether the accelerated pace of state technology and digital services transformation over the past eighteen months will persist beyond the pandemic.
Explore more about our findings.
COVID-19
pandemic impact
Digital services and emerging technologies
Broadband/
wireless connectivity
Legacy
modernization

COVID-19 pandemic impact and transformation

In the 2021 State CIO Survey we asked a variety of open-ended questions about COVID-19 and how things have or will change because of the pandemic and what might remain the same. CIOs were introspective and have clearly learned a lot since early 2020. For CIOs, there is no going back to pre-pandemic business models. State CIOs told us that the pandemic has highlighted the value of technology and how it is critical to delivery of government services and to productivity of state employees. CIOs also thought their role could become even more important in the workforce conversation as remote work policies and culture begins to change.

Rank the top five business processes, practices or investment changes that you believe will continue post COVID-19 pandemic?

Increased attention on digital government services/citizen experience

(#3 in 2020 survey)

Expanded work from home/remote work options

(#1 in 2020 survey)

Investments in broadband expansion/adoption

(#4 in 2020 survey)

Expanded use of collaboration platforms/remote meetings

(#2 in 2020 survey)

Increased priority and investment in legacy modernization

(#5 in 2020 survey)

“The biggest take-away is that we can deliver solutions and services faster than ever before. There is a greater focus on working together as an enterprise and we have implemented platforms and technologies that support that.” - 2021 State CIO survey

Digital services and emerging technologies

In this year's survey, with responses being collected a full year after the pandemic began, one answer overwhelmingly stood out as the biggest driver for state governments' need to digitize: “better online experience for citizens.”  The COVID pandemic demanded a rapid response by government to citizen needs.  While a difficult time, it did provide a great opportunity to simplify and innovate.  When CIOs were asked what digital services and work practices instituted during the pandemic they expect to retain, work from home and enhanced security and online services were the clear top choices.  The practice least likely to stay was simplified procurement, suggesting the rules were relaxed purely to deal with an emergency, not for any long-term benefit.

There was a major shift in this year’s survey versus the 2020 survey to the question “What emerging IT area will be most impactful in the next 3-5 years?”  Low-code/no-code was the top selection with 31 percent of responses in this year’s survey, which is almost double the second highest response (artificial intelligence/machine learning).  This reflects the need to deliver point solutions rapidly in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

See what emerging IT areas CIOs said will be most impactful in the next 3-5 years.

State CIOs consider better online experience for citizens the biggest driver to expand digital services.

TRUEFALSE

CORRECT

You're right, this statement is TRUE!

74% of State CIOs condiser Better online experience for citizents to be the biggest driver to expand digital services. Increased public participation, and optimizing operations were in 2nd and 3rd place.

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INCORRECT

Sorry, this statement is not false, it is TRUE!

74% of State CIOs condiser Better online experience for citizents to be the biggest driver to expand digital services. Increased public participation, and optimizing operations were in 2nd and 3rd place.

← Back to the question

What emerging IT area will be most impactful in the next 3-5 years? (Hover to view)

 

Low-code/no-code

 

Artificial intelligence (AI)/
Machine learning

 

 
Mass personalization/citizen personas
 

Robotic process automation (RPA)

 

Internet of things (IoT)

 

Remote work technology

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Broadband/wireless connectivity

Without a doubt, broadband and the importance of connectivity has been one of the biggest issues thrust into the spotlight during the COVID-19 pandemic. While CIOs have not traditionally had broadband under their authority—in the 2020 State CIO Survey only 23 percent of state CIOs told us they lead strategic planning and implementation—most, if not all, now have some responsibility in the deployment and adoption of broadband in their states. CIOs told us that additional funding for broadband has increased implementation and there is now serious consideration of legislation to create new broadband councils and other related initiatives. 

What are the biggest roadblocks with broadband deployment or implementation in your state? (choose top three)

46%

Topography

44%

Coordinating funding approach

44%

Affordability
Other roadblocks identified by CIOs include:

44%

Accurate/ current data and mapping

17%

Understanding of the federal grant process and compliance

15%

Carrier advocacy/incumbent protection

13%

Lack of public-private partnership opportunitie

9%

Lack of agency coordination

4%

Understanding of the state grant process and compliance

Legacy modernization

The modernization of legacy systems is another longstanding issue that was put on full display during the COVID-19 pandemic. While some systems were exposed for being out of date, others simply no longer met the business needs of the state. Consistent with our questions relating to emerging technologies, over 70 percent of CIOs reported use of low-code/no-code technologies to support legacy modernization.

Is your state using low-code/no-code technologies as part of its legacy system modernization strategy?

71%

Yes

29%

No

Of the 71% of state CIOs who said yes, the majority have implemented a pre-approved list of low-code/no-code platforms that the state agencies can use.

TRUEFALSE

CORRECT

You're right, this statement is TRUE!

52% say pre-approved list of low-code/no-code platforms that the state agencies can use is a priority. 33% say centralized and enhanced security through a standardized development platform and 27% say the state agencies make their own investment decision.

← Back to the question

INCORRECT

Sorry, this statement is not false, it is TRUE!

52% say pre-approved list of low-code/no-code platforms that the state agencies can use is a priority. 33% say centralized and enhanced security through a standardized development platform and 27% say the state agencies make their own investment decision.

← Back to the question
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