State of the States and Local Governments

whitePaper | January 29, 2020

Individual government contractors face more rigorous scrutiny, as private companies can monitor employee’s social media as part of their continuous vetting and insider threat protocols. However, despite the existence of a directive permitting them to do so, government agencies do not monitor their employees’ social media. Our interviews found this is due to a lack of clear guidance on how to implement the existing directives and security policies. This shortcoming can be remedied by government agencies agreeing upon a single common standard regarding the use of publicly available electronic information, specifically social media, for personnel security and insider threat purposes. The DNI, as Security Executive Agent for the government, must then develop guidelines for the implementation of this standard throughout the sector.

whitePaper | August 8, 2022

Over the last almost two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has catalysed the UK government’s digital transformation. Remarkable transition to remote working, rapid delivery of new digital services, and scaling of existing IT systems to meet increased demand have demonstrated the power of digital and paved the way for building a digitally led public sector. Additionally, predominant digital inefficiencies have become clearer, whilst new citizen and staff expectations have been set. But how do government departments plan to build on and sustain this recent impetus to digital transformation in the coming years?

whitePaper | February 12, 2020

Both the U.S. Government and biopharmaceutical industry have been central engines for developing new medical treatments and cures, thereby lowering the effective price of better health for patients worldwide. The sector has done so by being both the world leader in these biopharmaceutical cures and treatments as well as the source of the returns that are required to fund new medical R&D investments.

whitePaper | June 10, 2022

The public sector is feeling the squeeze between an increase in cyber attacks and a lack of increased resources to keep up. In a recent survey conducted on behalf of SolarWinds, public sector respondents reported increased concern over ransomware, malware and phishing the most over the previous year, but time to detection and resolution had not improved for the majority.1 To bolster application security, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a memorandum directing agencies to identify critical software and implement the latest protections outlined by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Another OMB memorandum presented a federal zero trust architecture (ZTA) strategy that requires agencies to meet specific cybersecurity standards and objectives by the end of FY2024.

whitePaper | July 1, 2022

We believe that more open public services can benefit everybody in the UK and that finding ways to deliver better services for less money is a challenge that is common to all four nations of the UK. The scope of this paper is UK wide, but in devolved areas of policy it is for the devolved administrations to determine their own approach to public service reform. The three devolution settlements in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are all different although, in general, services such as health, education and those provided by local government are under devolved control. If you live or work in any of the devolved territories and are in any doubt as to which of these reforms would apply there, the relevant territorial office will be able to advise you. We are committed to working in partnership with the devolved administrations to share good practice and to explore whether our approach would suit their particular circumstances and need.

whitePaper | April 6, 2020

Government agencies are at an important crossroads. For years they’ve faced mandates to modernize IT, but many have made limited progress. Now, with increasing citizen demands and other mission requirements, agencies are under pressure to adopt newer technologies. Faced with aging systems that are not up to the task — along with the need to reduce security risks and improve efficiencies — cloud is emerging as the primary vehicle for transforming government agencies.