Tag: cybersecurity

Technology & IT Procurement

Implementing eGovernment: 3 Lessons from Estonia

State governments across the country have switched to work from home to comply with quarantine orders. This has closed some state offices, significantly reduced the hours of other state offices, and has caused wide-spread delays in citizens receiving services across the country. This has created a demand to expand eGovernment services and, according to the United Nations survey, some world governments have responded to this demand by making more government services available online. As more states expand eGovernment services, lessons can be learned from how one country went almost 100% online years ago: Estonia.

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Technology & IT Procurement

The State of Cybersecurity: 3 Bold Plays for Change

In March 2018, the city of Atlanta suffered a ransomware attack that compromised the data of their employees and anyone who conducted business with the state and ended costing $2.6 million in emergency contract efforts[1]. When Louisiana was attacked in November of 2019, 10% of the state’s servers were infiltrated and some 1,500 computers were damaged.  These examples demonstrate cybersecurity should be a top priority for procurement officers to protect the sensitive information of both vendors and staff. Understanding the issues and goals of your state Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) can pave the road toward a more productive working relationship and allow procurement officers to address increasing cybersecurity threats as partners.

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Technology & IT Procurement

Blockchain: The Public Sector Big Picture

The private sector has invested more than 1.4 billion dollars in blockchain since 2014. To put this number into context, this is on par with the amount of money spent on internet investments during the early 90’s! What do you know about blockchain? Personally, I knew almost nothing besides the fact it was a technology people were excited about and that it had something to do with Bitcoin. Luckily for me, Procurement U recently released a free course entitled “Blockchain: The Public Sector Big Picture”. This course provided me with a basic understanding of how blockchain works and explains it in a simple, approachable way through videos and interactive graphics.  As someone who is not the most technically savvy, I can say that this course helped me understand blockchain and made me excited about its potential uses. This course goes over how blockchain works and how it can be used in procurement. Take this Procurement U course to start exploring blockchain and its uses in your office!

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Technology & IT Procurement

Have a Safe Cyber 2018

It’s Monday morning and you have just arrived at work…congratulations!  You stroll in with sleep still in your eye as you overhear your coworkers reminisce about their excellent weekends.  You grab your Monday-sized cup of coffee and proceed to your desk, where everything seems just as you left it the Friday before.  Sitting down, you take a big gulp of coffee and flip on your computer.  “NOT AGAIN!” you cry, shaking your fist in the air.  As you shake out the frustration, you turn your attention back to your laptop, which is prompting you to “Please enter a new password.”  Begrudgingly, you attempt to reset your password, as something you will remember but “haven’t used in the past 60 days.”  Sound familiar? With so many digital platforms in today’s world, how are you supposed to keep up with all the information!? There’s a password for email, one for the Amazon, bank accounts, Facebook…the list goes on and on.
Frustrating? Perhaps.  Necessary? Absolutely.  But why?  Cybersecurity!

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