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Maryland improves website navigation with analytics data

On this week’s episode of the Priorities Podcast, Maryland Assistant IT Secretary Stefanos Ghebrehewariat says the state’s new website design is informed by the elements that “95.5%” of users were looking for.

“You see that the majority of users are focused on certain components of the site, not necessarily everything that we had on there,” Ghebrehewariat says. 

The Maryland Department of Information Technology teamed up with the digital services company NIC on the redesign. Ghebrehewariat says the new site’s user experience emphasizes search and news, while also providing easier access to resources for state workers, who are among the site’s most frequent users.

In the news this week:

Former Virginia CIO Nelson Moe is joining Iron Bow, an IT services provider, as a sales strategist for the state, local and education market. The move to the private sector reunites Moe with his former deputy Jonathan Ozovek. Ozovek is the company’s chief transformation officer for SLED.

Twenty-one states now have chief privacy officers, and more are coming, according to a new report from the National Association of State Chief Information Officers. That’s up from 12 in 2019, the last time the group studied privacy officers. At least three other states are looking to hire privacy leads later this year, according to NASCIO.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s communications and technology panel voted to approve an amendment to the Spectrum Innovation Act that would use funding from wireless spectrum auctions to raise $10 billion for next-generation 911. Lawmakers said using spectrum auctions to fund next-generation 911 will be more efficient than tax dollars.

StateScoop’s Priorities Podcast is available every Thursday. Listen more here.

If you want to hear more of the latest across the state and local government technology community, subscribe to the Priorities Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and Stitcher.

Priorities Podcast

Weekly

Each week, the Priorities Podcast will take you through the latest in state and local government technology news and analysis. The program will explore trending stories throughout the week, as well as feature conversations with top executives across government and industry on things like modernization, emerging technology and digital services.

Hosted by Jake Williams

Jake Williams is the vice president of content and community for StateScoop and EdScoop. He's spent nearly a decade in the government IT market, covering the ins and outs of state and local government, as well as higher education. He started his journalism career in his native Pennsylvania and has also worked as a reporter for Campaigns & Elections magazine.
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