https://statetechmagazine.com/ en https://statetechmagazine.com/article/2026/10/why-employee-experience-becoming-ai-strategy State and local governments have made significant progress preparing for artificial intelligence. Across the country, agencies are modernizing infrastructure, strengthening cybersecurity, improving data governance and developing policies to guide responsible AI use. These foundational investments are essential for moving AI from pilot projects to enterprise capabilities. Yet many organizations are overlooking another prerequisite for AI success: the day-to-day experience of the employees expected to use these new tools. AI is often discussed as a technology initiative, but its value… Tue, 06 Oct 2026 14:28:53 -0400 Tony Sivore https://statetechmagazine.com/article/2026/10/why-employee-experience-becoming-ai-strategy https://statetechmagazine.com/article/2026/10/why-state-cios-should-expect-change-and-lean-their-peers Do you know the unofficial motto of the National Association of State Chief Information Officers? I know that you’re thinking it’s “If you’ve seen one state … you’ve seen one state.” That one is definitely on the greatest hits list, but the motto on our team is “Expect surprises.” Many have tried to sum that up over time, but one of the best was Benjamin Franklin, who wrote, “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” A more modern take comes from the lyricist André Benjamin, who said, “You can plan a pretty picnic but you can’t predict the weather.” I think you… Mon, 05 Oct 2026 11:42:39 -0400 Meredith Ward https://statetechmagazine.com/article/2026/10/why-state-cios-should-expect-change-and-lean-their-peers https://statetechmagazine.com/article/2026/10/smart-cities-connect-2026-cities-test-small-scaling-ai-and-data-projects Cities do not need to start innovation projects with a large technology deployment, officials recently told the Smart Cities Connect Fall Conference and Expo. In Trenton, N.J., Naman Sharma began by mapping how employees actually handled city-owned properties — and found that staff members were following different versions of the same process. That discovery shaped his approach to modernization: Understand the people and the process first, then decide what technology belongs in the solution. “People, process, technology — and the order really matters,” said Sharma, an innovation lead and… Fri, 02 Oct 2026 10:50:20 -0400 Jessica Balen https://statetechmagazine.com/article/2026/10/smart-cities-connect-2026-cities-test-small-scaling-ai-and-data-projects https://statetechmagazine.com/article/2026/09/qa-new-jerseys-chief-innovation-officer-lifts-curtain-launching-ai-projects Dave Cole has strong experience with artificial intelligence. Prior to serving as New Jersey's chief innovation officer, he worked in the private sector as vice president of an AI-based startup company. Once he joined government, he worked to improve digital services for New Jersey residents, and so it's no surprise that New Jersey is now at the forefront of AI adoption among U.S. states. In an exclusive interview, StateTech Managing Editor Mickey McCarter asked Cole how the state is moving ahead with its AI projects. STATETECH: New Jersey has moved beyond AI pilots. Where has New Jersey… Fri, 02 Oct 2026 12:12:05 -0400 Mickey McCarter https://statetechmagazine.com/article/2026/09/qa-new-jerseys-chief-innovation-officer-lifts-curtain-launching-ai-projects https://statetechmagazine.com/article/2026/09/how-states-secure-cloud-era-identity-first-strategies As Virginia continues to shift workloads into the cloud, the Virginia IT Agency and other state agencies don’t have to worry about an identity and access management solution during each migration. They can simply connect to a statewide system already in place. VITA laid the groundwork for IAM years ago, first by consolidating dozens of Active Directory instances into one centralized AD environment, then synchronizing it with Microsoft Entra ID, forming a unified directory for on-premises and cloud workloads. The agency has added Okta on top to provide single sign-on across the state’s… Mon, 28 Sep 2026 11:07:03 -0400 Wylie Wong https://statetechmagazine.com/article/2026/09/how-states-secure-cloud-era-identity-first-strategies https://statetechmagazine.com/article/2026/09/smart-cities-connect-2026-how-baltimore-using-data-help-cut-homicides Baltimore recorded 133 homicides in 2025, down 31% from 194 a year earlier and far below the 300-plus annual homicides the city experienced for much of the previous decade. Baltimore officials say better use of data has been an important part of the city’s response to violence. The data helps officials identify who is most at risk, decide where to concentrate violence prevention programs and examine whether those programs are working as intended. Stefanie Mavronis, director of Baltimore’s Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (MONSE), and Joseph Muhlhausen, the city’s chief of… Fri, 25 Sep 2026 10:32:38 -0400 Mickey McCarter https://statetechmagazine.com/article/2026/09/smart-cities-connect-2026-how-baltimore-using-data-help-cut-homicides https://statetechmagazine.com/article/2026/09/smart-cities-connect-2026-raleighs-ai-pilot-shines-light-human-touch The City of Raleigh, N.C., tested an artificial intelligence–powered customer service assistant and ultimately decided not to keep it. But city officials say that doesn’t mean the experiment was a failure. Instead, Raleigh came away with a clearer idea of where resident-facing AI can be useful — and where a human being remains the better option. “We don’t want to just slap AI on everything,” Raleigh Strategy and Innovation Manager Cristina Leos said. The key, she said, is determining “what is the actual need?” Leos and Raleigh Innovator-in-Residence Alice Bosley shared the city’s findings… Wed, 23 Sep 2026 15:58:07 -0400 Mickey McCarter https://statetechmagazine.com/article/2026/09/smart-cities-connect-2026-raleighs-ai-pilot-shines-light-human-touch https://statetechmagazine.com/article/2026/09/digital-twin-technology-becoming-more-accessible-agencies-should-still-start-small In Colorado, state and local agencies have used digital twin technology to simulate how wildfires could spread based on terrain, weather and vegetation. Officials can model scenarios in advance and use the results to determine where resources might be needed. The Trinity River Authority of Texas is using an Autodesk-powered digital twin to model wastewater and stormwater systems. And the Washington State Department of Transportation has piloted a digital twin of the I-90 Homer Hadley floating bridge using Microsoft Azure digital twins and sensor data to monitor structural conditions. Advances… Tue, 22 Sep 2026 12:14:56 -0400 Dan Curtis, Bob Patterson  https://statetechmagazine.com/article/2026/09/digital-twin-technology-becoming-more-accessible-agencies-should-still-start-small https://statetechmagazine.com/article/2026/09/creating-capacity-better-way-think-about-government-modernization During my time as CIO for the state of North Carolina, I sat through many budget discussions. Some took place during routine annual planning, while others followed a cybersecurity event, a new legislative priority or an urgent technology need that couldn’t wait. No matter what brought us to the table, one question came up almost every time: What gets funded as “core” and what gets funded as “extra”? Too often, I watched data lose that fight. It got filed under modernization, or worse, under operations and maintenance — the catchall for keeping the lights on. That’s the wrong bucket. Data isn’… Mon, 21 Sep 2026 13:24:20 -0400 Jim Weaver https://statetechmagazine.com/article/2026/09/creating-capacity-better-way-think-about-government-modernization https://statetechmagazine.com/article/2026/09/how-state-and-local-governments-build-reliable-networks-self-service-kiosks Residents can get a lot done in a government office. They can go to their local motor vehicles office to conduct routine business such as renewing driver’s licenses, updating their addresses or paying fees. Many people feel like that is time well spent. But in case they don’t, Tennessee offers an alternative to visiting the office with a statewide deployment of self-service kiosks. “We saw that as a huge opportunity to try to address those simpler transactions,” says Matthew Drewes, executive IT director for the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security, which led the… Thu, 17 Sep 2026 16:09:13 -0400 Adam Stone https://statetechmagazine.com/article/2026/09/how-state-and-local-governments-build-reliable-networks-self-service-kiosks