Report: New state governors likely to align IT agenda with the federal government

The new governors elected nationwide in November are likely to closely link their information technology agenda with that of the federal government's, according to a report from a technology research firm.

INPUT noted many gubernatorial candidates expanded on IT-related priorities during the campaign season. "Technology agenda items were more prominent and widespread during this election cycle than we have seen before," Chris Dixon, INPUT's manager of industry analysis, said in a news release. "Several governors . . . featured large numbers of IT-specific agenda items in their campaign platforms," straddling all parties and regions. "It would be a great idea, and follow trends that we've already broadly seen," said Andrew Hoppin, chief information officer of the New York state Senate. "[I'm] hearing from agency CIOs that they very much want that close [coordination] with their peers at the federal government." It also makes financial sense at a time when states are hurting for money, Hoppin added. The federal government essentially can print money when it wants to fund an IT item, but for a state, it's a "much more dire situation . . . if we don't find a way to fund that, government literally shuts down," he said.