Governor Timothy M. Kaine today announced that Virginia has received top honors in the nation for information security and technology management from the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO). Both programs received first place honors from NASCIO at its 20th annual Recognition Awards program yesterday in Milwaukee.
“Virginia has led the nation in its efforts to utilize information technology to improve citizen service, lower costs and tap into the strengths of the private sector,” Governor Kaine said. “This prestigious national recognition for our innovative public-private partnership to transform our IT infrastructure is important validation of our direction.”
The Commonwealth’s groundbreaking partnership between the Virginia Information Technologies Agency and Northrop Grumman was rated best in the nation in the NASCIO category Enterprise IT Management Initiatives. The 10-year, $1.9 billion partnership modernizes the Commonwealth’s IT infrastructure, including computers, networks and e-mail, at 85 agencies to improve government services.
Virginia’s “Interlocking Spheres of Collaborative Protection” program received top honors in NASCIO’s Information Security and Privacy category. The comprehensive program strengthens the security of sensitive citizen information across all branches of government.
“Protecting sensitive information is a commitment that we all must make, and I am particularly proud to accept the recognition of our collaborative efforts in the information security arena,” said Governor Kaine.
In addition to taking top awards in two of ten award categories, the Commonwealth also was honored as a finalist for the Virginia Department of Human Resource’s Knowledge Center in the Data, Information and Knowledge Management category.
According to NASCIO, the group “honors outstanding information technology achievements in the public sector through its Recognition Awards for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Information Technology. Emphasis is placed on recognizing information technology initiatives which exemplify best practices, support public policy goals of state leaders, assist government officials to innovatively execute their duties, and provide cost-effective service to citizens.”