Florida governor proposes dismantling state technology agency

Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis, in his first budget proposal, recommends eliminating the Agency for State Technology (AST) and giving the role of managing IT operations to the Department of Management Services. If passed, this will be the third time that the state’s technology agency has been dissolved since 2005.The Agency for State Technology was formed in 2014 for the purpose of providing unified management of IT and cybersecurity for state agencies, following 2 years without a centralized technology agency after the dissolution of the Agency for Enterprise Information Technology in 2012.

DeSantis’ proposed budget for 2019-2020 has a total of $91.3 billion in funding, which is $2 billion more than last year’s and the largest in state history. However, it only allocates $5 million for a CIO’s office under the Department of Management Services, representing a decrease in $64.1 million allocated to AST under the current budget. Proponents cite a number of open positions in the state’s data center and high technology spending. Others, however, argue that a centralized office is needed to oversee IT consolidation and optimization efforts.

At this point, it remains to be seen if the budget will pass and how the state’s IT governance structure will be affected, but this could be the sign of significant changes again in the government IT landscape in Florida in the coming year.

Source: StateScoop