North Carolina names senior adviser for digital experience

North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein on Wednesday named Torre Jessup, the state’s deputy chief information officer, as the state’s new senior adviser for digital experience.

In the new role, Jessup is tasked with leading efforts to improve how North Carolina’s state government provides digital services to its residents. According to a press release from Stein’s office, Jessup will “spearhead the development of a new digital platform that makes it easier for North Carolinians to access services and do business with the state.”

“State government works only if it’s accessible and responsive to what people need,” Stein said in the release. “Our digital systems are in need of an upgrade, and I know Torre will get the job done.”

(Jessup’s new role was announced along with one other: Doug Warf, a former president of the Carolina Hurricanes, a professional hockey team based in Raleigh, will serve as the state’s senior adviser for business engagement.)

While improving digital services has been a key priority for state technology offices for many years, states are increasingly hiring dedicated officials to handle the finer aspects of the discipline. In 2023, Maryland announced a new initiative, along with a five-person digital services team, to improve how the state provided digital services to the public. Marcy Jacobs now heads Maryland’s Office of Digital Experience as the state’s first chief digital experience officer.

Jacobs last August likened many of the state’s websites to geological artifacts, the products of many years of changes and bureaucratic influence, which didn’t always serve users well.

“We’re asking: How do we shift the content to be more targeted to the questions that people have, the tasks that they’re trying to accomplish, the benefits and services that they are looking for,” she said.

A growing number of states are also developing the sorts of digital services portals that North Carolina has announced. Research published last May by the National Association of State Technology Directors showed that more than a quarter of states are operating “citizen services” portals, and 39% reported that they were in the middle of building one.

Many states, though, still struggle to organize their services in a way that keeps users in view, the report found. Seventy-three percent of states organized services in their portals based on the agency that offered them, compared to 27% that organized services by type, which is generally considered a more intuitive way for users to find what they’re looking for.

And new developments in artificial intelligence will undoubtedly play a growing role in how states offer digital services. Interest in AI has only increased since the May report, which found that 20% of states had already added AI to their services, while 41% reported they were in the process of adding AI capabilities, in hopes of more seamlessly directing users to the information and services they seek.