Mapping digital benefits delivery

A new directory and mapping tool is helping nonprofits, governments and members of the public better understand which benefits programs are being offered around the country. Jennifer Phillips, with the Digital Benefits Network at the Beeck Center for Social Impact and Innovation, joins StateScoop’s Priorities Podcast to explain why the new tools are such a helpful component of the group’s work. “Our theory of change at the Beeck Center and Digital Benefits Network is to take collective, collaborative action, it’s really critical to know where are the organizations, what are they doing, which sectors are doing what,” Phillips says. “And having that line of sight across the ecosystem is really critical to improving public benefits access delivery.”

This week’s top stories:

The network that hosts services for the office of Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday went offline after a recent “cyber incident,” according to a notice Sunday posted to his official X account on Monday. Sunday called the situation “frustrating” and said officials were working to understand what happened.

Numerous state and local officials shared with StateScoop a belief that they will need to be more self-reliant in the years ahead, as keystone cyber programs are abandoned or scaled back, and as they receive fewer communications from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. Of particular concern for many state and local technology officials are recent federal cuts to the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center, a group that for more than 20 years has shared critical cybersecurity intelligence across state lines and provided threat monitoring services and other resources at free or heavily discounted rates.

A recent investigation by the National Association of State Chief Information Officers reveals a landscape of complicated procurement laws that are challenging vendors. The report concludes by making several recommendations, including that private companies educate themselves on the procurement processes of the states where they bid and to deploy legal teams that are specialized in public sector dealings.

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