2022 is ending, and it is time for U.S. public sector leaders to reflect on lessons learned while planning for the upcoming state and local government fiscal year-end. This year’s NASCIO Annual Conference highlighted the post-pandemic technology trends and challenges that are defining 2023 policy agendas and the future of technology acquisitions. The conference referenced the State Chief Information Officer Survey which assessed state CIOs’ thoughts on a wide array of topics that affect their roles as public sector technology and business leaders in today’s modern world.

“We must find fresh ways to connect forces, allies, and partners that provide an effective response to the challenge of a highly contested environment not seen in the last 20 years. Given the challenges we face today and in the future, we simply have no choice but to become more interoperable,” said General CQ Brown JR., U.S. Air Force Chief.

This year’s EDUCAUSE Annual Conference highlighted trends and challenges currently dictating not only policy agendas but also information technology (IT) acquisitions for years to come. In particular, the conference referenced the EDUCAUSE Horizon Report, which addressed key technology trends and priorities impacting IT buying decisions and more generally, the future of teaching and learning.

FY23 Top Priorities

Interoperability for the Department of Defense (DoD) and Defense Health in particular speaks to the idea of information being more easily shared across systems. Technology vendors and channel partners who emphasize interoperability in the tools and solutions they sell to the DoD can find success anywhere in this vast department, from the warfighting side (for example, see our blog on Air Force interoperability) to the world of defense health.

On September 30, Congress and the White House passed a Continuing Resolution (CR), which funds the government through December 16, 2022. At this point, anyone keenly watching the budget process every year can tell you the likelihood of a CR being passed as opposed to a new budget by Oct 1st is all but guaranteed. CRs function as a temporary stopgap designed to avoid a government shutdown. However, it also locks funding to the previous fiscal year’s level and prevents new projects from beginning.

The U.S. electric grid is critical infrastructure consisting of an ecosystem of communities, stakeholders, governments and economies. Most of the grid infrastructure was built decades ago and is unreliable. Bad actors know it. In 2015, Russian hackers carried out the first successful cyberattack on the nation's electricity grid, which was just one of an ongoing series of security breaches and attacks on US infrastructure and utilities.

In a recent webinar produced by Federal News Network, the Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Office of Information Security and Privacy, Tonya Manning, detailed the state of the agency’s zero trust and data handling postures, as well as its latest priorities. We’ll spotlight several takeaways and look at what’s to likely come down the pike for the EPA in the coming months and years.

Zero Trust Architecture

This past week, President Biden signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. It contains a total of $750 billion dedicated to a number of provisions, including combatting climate change challenges. The legislation itself has been in the works just over a year and directs funds to several initiatives that those in the contracting sphere will want to watch.

The heightened threat of retaliatory cyberattacks by Russia against critical U.S. IT infrastructure is prompting federal investments in cybersecurity to strengthen its cyber defense posture. The ongoing conflict in the region and the increased targeting of critical infrastructure assets will cause federal agencies to look for ways to strengthen their cybersecurity posture and redefine requirements that address cyber breaches that may occur during the coming months and years as well as drive investments into Zero Trust related tools and threat intelligence.