Hogan Announces New Round of Initiatives to Bolster Cybersecurity

Governor Larry Hogan this week announced a slew of privacy initiatives and executive orders to bolster state and local cybersecurity efforts and protect sensitive data.

The governor made the announcements at a cybersecurity summit in Annapolis. As previously reported on Conduit Street, the governor’s summit brought together senior government officials, including leaders from the White House, Congress, the National Security Agency, the FBI, governors, academic leaders, and private sector experts.

“Public officials have no higher responsibility than keeping the American people safe, and there is no greater threat to their safety than the cyber vulnerabilities of the systems that support our daily lives,” said Governor Hogan. “Now, the time has come for leaders at all levels of government, along with stakeholders in the private sector and academia, to take immediate and decisive actions. We all have an important role to play.”

Partnering with NSA to employ a senior-level data analyst advise the State on enterprise data practice, policies, standards, and security

The NSA Data Analyst will coordinate with the Governor’s Office, the Chief Information Officer, the Council on Open Data, agency data leadership, and other key government, university, and private sector organizations on a comprehensive data architecture that guides and protects data throughout its life cycle.

MOU with the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) to establish a new Maryland Institute for Innovative Computing

Governor Hogan and UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski signed a groundbreaking agreement to create a new Maryland Institute for Innovative Computing (MIIC), which will team students and faculty with leaders of state and local agencies to address some of Maryland’s most pressing workforce and technology challenges—particularly in the areas of cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and data science.

Through this partnership, UMBC and the state will collaborate to create Cyber Rapid Response Teams that could deploy quickly to assist state agencies and local governments with responding to attacks and breaches as they occur. This new entity will also house a Strategic Technology Investment Fund to assist state agencies with the resources they need to solve IT and data challenges and to support further expansion of the state’s IT workforce. Read the MOU.

Codifying a statewide privacy framework to govern the way the state secures citizens’ personal information

The governor enacted an executive order creating a strong privacy framework for state agencies to properly collect, use, retain, and disclose personally identifiable information. In addition, the order creates a State Chief Privacy Officer (SCPO), who will be charged with overseeing the development, implementation, maintenance of, and adherence to policies and procedures covering the privacy of personally identifiable information.

The order also requires that the principal executive units appoint an agency privacy official who will work with the SCPO to inventory data, systems, and applications that hold personally identifiable information.  Read the order.

Institutionalizing a whole-of-government strategic approach for effective data governance

Governor Hogan enacted an executive order creating a State Chief Data Officer (SCDO), who is charged with supervising data use and management and facilitating inter-agency data sharing. The order also directs state agencies to appoint an agency data officer to support and work with the SCDO to oversee the agency’s internal and external data affairs. Together, the SCDO and agency data officers will assess and make recommendations regarding Maryland’s data landscape to produce a strategic state data plan. Read the order.

Expanding the scope of the Maryland Total Human-services Integrated Network (MD THINK)

The governor enacted an executive order formally establishing the MD THINK Committee to govern how state agencies share and use data. MD THINK, the state’s first-in-the-nation cloud-based data repository, allows multiple state agencies to share and manage data.

The executive order further establishes that MD THINK will leverage shared data to support the Two-Generation Family Economic Security Commission in transforming the state’s interactions with families and to develop policy recommendations to reduce the effects of adverse childhood experiences. The order also aligns the Medicaid Modernization Transformation program with MD THINK to enable a more holistic use of state programs, modernize the delivery of additional health and human services, and benefit Maryland’s vulnerable individuals and families. Read the order.

Listen to the latest episode of the Conduit Street Podcast for more information.

Headlines — Infrastructure and Cybersecurity

At the MACo Summer Conference Tech Expo, an expert panel will discuss new and emerging threats; explain how to leverage federal resources to secure IT systems and digital services; and share tips, best practices, and resources to deter, disrupt, prepare for, and respond to cyberattacks.

The “Strengthening Security: Protecting Your Network from Cyberattacks” session will be held Wednesday, August 18, 2021, from 11:00 am – 12:00 pm.

The MACo Summer Conference will be held August 18-21 at the Roland Powell Convention Center in Ocean City, Maryland. This year’s theme is “Resilient. Responsive…Ready.”

Learn more about MACo’s Summer Conference: