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December 16, 2025 17 mins

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/

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Episode Transcript

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Amy Glasscock (00:06):
Hi and welcome to NASIO Voices, where we talk all
things state IT.
I'm Amy Glasscock in Lexington,Kentucky.

Alex Whitaker (00:12):
And I'm Alex Twitter in Washington, D.C.
Today is the big day.
The NASIO top 10 list for 2026is out.

Amy Glasscock (00:19):
And boy, we have a lot to talk about, including
some big news.
Joining us is our own programdirector for enterprise
architecture and governance,Eric Sweden.
Eric, thanks so much for comingback to the podcast.

Eric Sweden (00:31):
And thanks for having me.
Always fun to do this withYouTube.

Amy Glasscock (00:34):
It is.
Okay, so believe it or not,this is the seventh year in a
row that we've had you on thepodcast to talk about the NASIO
top ten.
But for our newer listeners,remind us what the NASIO top ten
lists are and why we do them.

Eric Sweden (00:47):
Very good, Amy.
It's always good to revisit howthis came about because you
know we have many new members aswe go through from year to
year, and even new listenersfrom our existing membership.
So it's good to revisit this togive a little background.
The top 10 is an idea DougRobinson started back in 2006 as

(01:11):
a way to gauge what the stateCIOs consider their highest
priority challenges for thecoming year, in this case 2026.
So that would then help NASIOto ensure what we do is in
alignment with what our stateCIOs, our prime members, need.
And what our state CIOs needaligns with clearly the state

(01:34):
governor's agendas, which wouldalign with the demands and needs
of our citizens.
So, in essence, we at NASIO areserving our citizens, our
country, we're on mission, andthe top 10 is one of the ways we
make sure we are ensuringeffective alignment with what's

(01:54):
relevant.
The annual state CIO Top 10priorities is also a critical
message to the marketplace, themedia, and our strategic
partners.
The state CIO Top 10 hashistorically been the singular
most important message we sendto anyone regarding state
government.

(02:15):
That information is presentedon this list, and it provides a
view to the next year'santicipated focus areas.
So we do a top 10, not a top 20or 30.
These are the highestpriorities on the agenda for the
state CIO, but not the onlypriorities.
And in 2008, Doug added thetechnology top 10 to the ballot

(02:38):
for the very same reasons.
The first year of thistechnology priority list was the
following year in 2009.
So we've been the steward ofthis process for the past, wow,
20 years.
It's interesting to see thetrends over that time, Amy.

Amy Glasscock (02:54):
Yeah, it sure is.

Alex Whitaker (02:55):
Right, absolutely, Eric.
So tell us, what are the bighighlights for 2026 on the top
10 strategies, management,processes, and solutions list?
I understand there's a bigheadline this year.

Eric Sweden (03:05):
Yeah, there is, and uh very good point.
We're looking into the nextyear, 2026.
Most striking, Alex, isartificial intelligence arriving
at number one, displacingcybersecurity, which held the
number one ranking for 12 yearsin a row.
So cyber security comes innumber two.
So this is this is showing theincredible impact of all of the

(03:31):
various epics, iterations ofartificial intelligence, Agenic
AI, Gen AI, et cetera, etcetera.
The new ones are coming.
Overall, nine of the strategypriorities are the same.
Workforce drops off after afterbeing on the list for five
consecutive years, consolidationoptimization returns to the

(03:51):
list, and the last time it wason the list was 2023.

Alex Whitaker (03:56):
Got it.
Awesome.
So what other changes do we seeon the top ten for 2026?

Eric Sweden (04:01):
Well, here's an overview, Alex.
So budget cost control movesinto the number three rank for
2026, up from number six in for2025.
Cybersecurity, as we stated, isin the number two ranking
position.
Shifting down from its historyis number one for the twelve
years we mentioned.
And what displaced it isartificial intelligence.

(04:22):
The top three are still the topthree, though.
They shifted aroundcybersecurity, artificial
intelligence, and digitalgovernment.
They're all three ridingtogether still.
For 2026, accessibility movesup from number 10 in 2025 when
it first arrived on the list,and now it moves to number six

(04:44):
for 2026.
Data management and analyticsdrops down in the list from
number four in 2025 to numbereight in 2026.
Identity management is on thelist at number seven, and it has
been on the list everyconsecutive year starting in
2021.
Digital government is at numberfive, and it has been on the

(05:09):
list every consecutive yearstarting in 2018.
Identity management and digitalgovernment, they essentially
are traveling together.
They enable each other.
Cloud services has been on thelist every consecutive year
starting in 2011.
It has been as high as rankingnumber two for next year, 2026,

(05:30):
it's number 10.
So there's our overview, Alex,of the biggest highlights for
the strategy list.

Amy Glasscock (05:38):
One thing I did want to point out was uh the but
the budget, and I think that'sinteresting because uh a few
years ago when we were gettingall of this federal funding
post-pandemic and things, budgetI think either went really low
or dropped off the list for abit and then it came back on and
now it's creeping back upagain.
So it's interesting to see thatshift.

Eric Sweden (05:58):
Yes.
We're we're uh seeing statesare very concerned about uh
federal funding and uh budgetare certainly showing uh that
concern.

Amy Glasscock (06:08):
That's right.
Okay, so let's talk about theother lists that we publish
along with the strategy lists,the top ten technologies,
applications, and tools list.
What are the most interestingfindings from that one?

Eric Sweden (06:19):
Okay, Amy, on the technology list, low code, no
code dropped off.
And we had lots of dialogueabout that over the over the
last few years.
Automated fraud detection comesoff the top top ten list for
2026.
Note, some years we've combineddata analytics and data

(06:40):
management.
Both data management and dataanalytics are again on the list
as separate top ten prioritiesfor both 2025 and 2026.
So we can see a change here.
Clearly, state CIOs put highemphasis on insight-enabling
analytics, and we've published alot on this.
For 2026, data analyticssustains at number nine.

(07:03):
Data management drops fromnumber five to number eight.
Um artificial intelligence isin the number one rank on the
technology list, and it's beenon that technology list every
consecutive year starting in2020.
After AI, there's a combinationof three technologies that have

(07:23):
shifted their positioning butare still clustered in the
positions of two, three, four.
So application modernizationremains at number two.
Cloud services moves fromnumber four to number three for
2026, and identity managementmoves from number three to
number four for 2026.
Security Enhancement Toolsretains its ranking at number

(07:47):
six.
ERP moves from number eight tonumber seven.
Automated fraud detection dropsoff, and networking comes back
on the list for number ten.
I don't know why that is.
But anyway, recall automatedfraud detection arrived for the
first time in 2025, which wouldprobably fit with you know the

(08:08):
emphasis on gen AI, et cetera.
Um it's been considered uh thatis probably due to the increase
in the volume and thesophistication of cyber threats,
Amy.

Amy Glasscock (08:20):
Yeah, that's a good point.
So you've you've talked alittle bit about comparing where
things are with last year's,but um we would love to just
dive into that a little bitdeeper about how the current
lineup compares with past yearsand and how much consistency
there is year to year regardingwhat we see present on these top
ten lists.

Eric Sweden (08:38):
Very good uh question, Amy.
And for just looking at trends,when we look at the entire
history of the top ten strategylist and the frequency of some
of the subject areas, we observethe following.
For eight of the top ten, uh,there's a lot of frequency over
time.
So these are persistenttechnology priorities.

(09:00):
The new topics from ahistorical perspective are
artificial intelligence and allof its various iterations and
accessibility.
However, cybersecurity has beenon the list twenty times,
consolidation and optimizationeighteen times, budget and cost
control and cloud services haveboth presented on the top

(09:22):
strategy list for 16 times.
Modernization has been on thelist 10 times, digital
government has been on the listnine times, and finally data
management and analytics havebeen on the list in some form
twelve times over the history ofthis uh top ten strategies.
You want to look at the at thelast five years, Amy, and see

(09:45):
what that did?
Sure.
Okay, well, here's the here'san interesting uh trend over the
last five years.
So cybersecurity and riskmanagement, cloud services, data
management analytics and itsvarious iterations, legacy
modernization, digitalgovernment, digital services,
identity management and accessmanagement, those have been on

(10:08):
the list over the last fiveyears every year.
Workforce has been on fourtimes in the last five years.
Consolidation optimization hasbeen on the list three times,
along with budget, broadband,and artificial intelligence
three times over the last fiveyears.
So that's a look over the lastfive.

Amy Glasscock (10:28):
You know, I'm so glad that we do this.
I how fun would it be to go ifwe had been doing this the whole
time NASIO existed and we couldgo back and look at the top 10
lists from the 1970s or the1980s, you know?
So uh one day somebody will beable to look back at 30, 40
years of top ten lists andthey'll have a historical
perspective.
Yeah, yeah.
It's like a time capsule.

Eric Sweden (10:49):
We wonder, Amy, what's gonna be new on that
list?

Amy Glasscock (10:51):
I know, yeah.

Alex Whitaker (10:53):
I mean, I just can't wait for next year to see
if uh AI is still number one.
I if I were betting, I'd bet itwould be.

Amy Glasscock (10:59):
Yeah.

Eric Sweden (11:00):
Well, I'm also looking for this one, Alex.
Quantum computing and thenquantum AI.
I'm wondering when that's gonnashow up.

Amy Glasscock (11:06):
Yeah, yeah.

Alex Whitaker (11:07):
Well, all right, Eric, thank you so much for
giving us an overview.
I know it will be reallyinteresting to see how these
rankings drive the work we do atNASIO in 2026.
But um, you know that before welet you go, we do have a few
lightning round questions foryou.
Are you ready?
I think so.

Eric Sweden (11:26):
Go ahead.

Amy Glasscock (11:27):
All right.
Do you have a favorite holidaymovie?

Eric Sweden (11:30):
You know, I think that would have to be It's a
Wonderful Life.

Amy Glasscock (11:35):
Yes.

Eric Sweden (11:36):
Another one, Christmas Lodge.
So you know, there's a couple Ireally like.

Amy Glasscock (11:39):
Nice.
Uh my daughter was actuallyjust in the play, It's a
Wonderful Life.
So Yeah, that's a great story.

Alex Whitaker (11:46):
Uh, do you like to carefully wrap gifts or throw
them in a gift bag?
We like to carefully wrap them.

Amy Glasscock (11:54):
That does not sound like a big thing.

Eric Sweden (11:55):
So they're beautiful.

Amy Glasscock (11:56):
Yeah.
Yeah, me too.
I I just carefully wrapped somegifts myself this weekend.
All right.
Are you more likely to haveyour Christmas lights plugged
into smart outlets and timers,or are you more of a classic
plug-in string light person?

Eric Sweden (12:09):
Well, that changed over the years.
Actually, uh in later yearshere, uh, we've had things
plugged into a timer.

Amy Glasscock (12:16):
Yeah.
Yeah, gotta love a timer.
All right.
So uh one last thing, as is ourtradition for many years now.
Eric will play some music onhis guitar for us to close out
NASIO voices for 2025.
Eric, what have you chosen forus today?

Eric Sweden (12:30):
Well, Amy, you and I like to pick out these old
tunes, and here's an old one.
This one is titled LondonderryAir.
It's an Irish melody named forLondonderry County.
And this melody, theinteresting thing about it, is
it's been used for many, manydifferent lyrics over more than
two hundred years, and even themelody has some variations, but

(12:53):
it's a very old melody.
Uh-huh.
And given the many hymns thathave used this melody, so I
think it rather fits in theChristmas theme, Christmas
Spirit.
So we're gonna call it aChristmas song for this year.
Now the arrangement I puttogether is based on a recording
from my guitar teacher whom Inever met, Chet Atkins.

(13:15):
He did a rendition of this onhis 1973 album.
It was transcribed by J Dr.
John Knowles, and I modified ita bit.
I kept some of the mainaspects, but I added some
classical tremble and a bit ofcountry.
There's a little bit of acountry accent here using what's
called slip note method thatwas so well developed by Floyd

(13:38):
Kramer on the piano.
Anyway, I hope that you likeit.
It's got a little countrystyling to it, but with it, uh,
we wish our members and ourlisteners a very Merry Christmas
and a safe and prosperoustwenty twenty-six.

Amy Glasscock (13:53):
Excellent.
Thank you so much, Eric.
We'll be back in the new yearwith Ayal Darman of Accenture to

(17:11):
talk all about how citizens andstate CIOs view the challenges
of accepting citizen services.
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