The Alaska Office of Information Technology has struggled to maintain consistent leadership in recent months as new CIOs come and go.

Phoenix CIO Matthew Arvay told StateScoop that Lawson, who left the Alaska government in late December, will start with the city in early April.

Shannon Lawson said new Gov. Mike Dunleavy asked for his resignation, but praised a new contract that empowers all public entities in the state to buy cybersecurity tools.

Alaska CISO Shannon Lawson says the state is now preparing to make an unprecedented investment in cybersecurity tools from a variety of vendors.

Bill Vajda, the first Alaskan technology official granted the governor's authority to lead an IT consolidation, has departed state government after less than 18 months in the role.

The new 13-member body is charged with advising the legislative and executive branches as the state upgrades to the next generation of technology.

Alaska, Colorado, Louisiana, Michigan and Vermont are getting some help with their public-benefits eligibility systems.

Legislation signed by Gov. Bill Walker could require multi-line phone operators to upgrade their emergency location-tracking capabilities starting next year.

An IP address associated with a top Beijing University that's been linked to previous geopolitical hacking efforts scanned Alaska's state government and telecom firms, though no breaches were detected.