JEFFERSON CITY - The State of Missouri is one of five elite states in the nation to receive an A grade from the Center for Digital Government in its 2016 Digital States Survey. Every two years, the Center for Digital Government evaluates state governments’ use of digital technologies to better serve their citizens and streamline operations. In its report, the Center cited Missouri’s public safety and emergency management programs as the crown jewel of the state’s efforts. Additionally, political leadership was cited as a critical factor in all of the top states in this year’s survey. In the Center’s survey two years ago, Missouri also received an A grade, up from a B+ in 2012.
“In recent years, technology has changed nearly every aspect of our lives,” said Office of Administration Commissioner Doug Nelson. “I am proud of the strides we have made in Missouri. The support we have received from Gov. Jay Nixon and the General Assembly for our IT efforts has enabled our staff to work alongside our private-sector partners and improve the way state government operates.”
“We are incredibly thankful for our team of talented IT professionals whose continued dedication is making a difference every day – even though most of it is behind the scenes and often goes unrecognized,” Rich Kliethermes, State of Missouri Interim CIO said. “Their work to make government more efficient has resulted in improved access to services for Missouri citizens.”
According to the Center for Digital Government: ‘the states that scored A grades demonstrated results across all criteria including actions supporting state priorities and policies to improve operations or services, hard and soft-dollar savings/benefits, progress since the last survey, innovative solutions, and effective collaboration.’
Judges were particularly impressed with Missouri’s emphasis on technology policy and projects. Public safety initiatives such as the Missouri Highway Patrol’s enhanced MO Automated Criminal History System fingerprint portal, the multi-state shared services offender management system, a new inmate banking system, three new administrative web portals and an online continuing education system earned Missouri 1st place in the Public Safety category of the individual 2016 Digital States Category Awards. Missouri was recognized as a runner up in the Citizen Engagement (2nd place), Finance and Administration (4th place), Health and Human Services (4th place) and Adaptive Leadership (5th place) categories.
Last month, the Office of Administration, in cooperation with its Information Technology Services Division (ITSD) and Office of Cyber Security, hosted the first ever State of Missouri Governor’s Cybersecurity Summit, which was funded in part by a grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The State of Missouri also recently launched a statewide cybersecurity preparedness initiative to bolster ongoing efforts to strengthen cybersecurity by raising awareness and sharing best practices with local government, businesses, educational institutions and citizens.
In 2015, ITSD was honored with the “Overall Excellence in Cyber Security Award” at the FireEye Defense Summit in Washington, D.C. Missouri ITSD was chosen for being a model of cybersecurity awareness, infrastructure and practices.