Advertise on podcast: NASCIO Voices

Alex and Amy talk about NASCIO's recently released 2026 federal advocacy priorities--as well as our personal goals for the new year. Find the priorities here: https://www.nascio.org/government-affairs/federal-advocacy-priorities/

Alex and Amy talk with NASCIO President and Arizona state CIO J.R. Sloan about his presidential initiative for 2026 and priorities in Arizona. He also tells us what he loves about living in Arizona.

Alex and Amy are joined by Eyal Darmon of Accenture to talk about our recent joint report. Specifically we are talking about how citizens and CIOs view the challenges of accessing state services--where they align and where they don't.  See the report here: https://www.nascio.org/resource-center/resources/harnessing-genai-to-elevate-the-citizen-experience/

Alex and Amy are joined by NASCIO's Eric Sweden to hear all about the NASCIO Top Ten lists for 2026. There's a big change to the #1 spot this year! We also get some historic perspective on the top issues and technologies, and as always get to hear Eric play the guitar! https://www.nascio.org/resource-center/resources/state-cio-top-ten-policy-and-technology-priorities-for-2026/

Today Amy and Alex talk about the issues that dominated NASCIO this year from AI and EA to procurement and accessibility. Plus we share what was on our Spotify Wrapped lists and our musical ages.

Alex and Amy are joined by NASCIO's program director for enterprise architecture and governace Eric Sweden to discuss the 2025 State CIO Survey sections on data management and cloud services. We also talk Thanksgiving food! Read the State CIO Survey here: https://www.nascio.org/resource-center/the-2024-state-cio-survey/

Alex and Amy are joined by NASCIO Policy Analyst Kalea Young-Gibson to talk about IT Accessibility making it into the State CIO Survey for the first time and what is driving this issue as a priority for states. We also discuss the foundational ways states are collaborating with local goverments.

Alex and Amy discuss findings from the 2025 State CIO Survey on how states use and governance of generative artificial intelligence has evolved since the 2024 survey. 

Alex and Amy are joined by NASCIO's director of experience and engagement, Emily Lane, to talk about the upcoming NASCIO Annual Conference in Denver, Colorado. Learn about keynotes, networking, sessions and events!

For our 150th episode, Alex and Amy are joined by North Dakota state CIO Corey Mock. We discuss how Corey's unique background as a young state legislator led him to the role of state CIO, how ND worked with different agencies to established the ND Gateway for businesses to have a more seamless government experience, what is on the horizon and how he survives the apparently brutal ND winters!

Alex and Amy are joined by NASCIO policy analyst Kalea Young-Gibson to chat about her new report Beyond Compliance: The Economic Case for Digital Accessibility. We also get a new government affairs update from Alex.

Amy and Alex talk about Amy's experience last week hosting guests from the Hubert Humphrey Fellowship Program in Lexington on behalf of NASCIO and Alex gives an update on federal affairs. Plus we talk about all the major pop culture news of the last couple of weeks. 

Amy and Alex are joined by NASICO President and Texas state CIO Amanda Crawford to discuss her president's initiative around state IT procurement and the report that was released last week. NASCIO held a number of listening sessions between state and corporate members to learn about procurement pain points and how to to avoid them.  See the report here: https://www.nascio.org/resource-center/resources/2025-presidents-initiative-demystifying-state-technology-procurement/

Chris Rein stops by the NASCIO Voices podcast to talk about his initiatives in New Jersey. We talk about updating infrastructure, balancing innovation with AI and citizen concerns, his advice for new CIOs and he tells us the most "New Jersey" thing about himself.

Amy and Alex are joined by Georgia state CIO Shawnzia Thomas. We talk about her four years at GTA and how AI has changed the work of the organization during that time. We also talk about her other priorities in the state and her favorite thing to buy for $10.