Check out your Company Bowl for anonymous work chats.
According to Cybersecurity Ventures, by 2021, ransomware attacks on businesses are predicted to occur every 11 seconds with global ransomware costs reaching $20 billion—57x more than in 2015. When consumer attacks are factored in, that figure increases to a ransomware attack every 5 seconds. NIC and Chief Security Officer Jayne Friedland Holland would like to encourage everyone to take the time to understand today’s major cybersecurity threats in observance of National Computer Security Day. “Today’s reality is that cybercriminals are so quick and so effective that no one is immune from attack,” Friedland Holland said. “Data can be compromised and exfiltrated within seconds. Add a pandemic and a massive remote work shift, and this reality is also the perfect environment for cybercriminals who thrive on uncertainty and confusion."
Congratulations to all of our state partners named to the Center for Digital Government’s Digital States Survey 2020! NIC is incredibly proud to work with the best in digital government. Whether through chatbots, the cloud or mobile applications, we are thrilled to see these solutions achieve exemplary honors and set the standard for citizen-centric digital government. Check out the article in Government Technology to learn more about each of our partners’ achievements: https://hubs.li/H0Bv80J0
Congratulations to the state of Utah on its WebAward for Outstanding Achievement in Web Development from the Web Marketing Association. The Utah Department of Technology Services and NIC Utah were recognized for Utah.gov and its digital services that help Utahns interact with government from anywhere. “Utah has seen record numbers of online government transactions performed this year,” said Dave Fletcher, the state’s CTO. “The current circumstances have required us to not only ensure existing digital services for Utahns perform at a high level, but to also expand the number of transactions that can be processed outside government offices.” Utah.gov was also recently named one of the top digital government experiences in the U.S. in the 2020 Government Experience Awards.
Congratulations to our team in Maine for being recognized for the fourth year in a row as one of the Best Places to Work in Maine! “It is such a privilege to be recognized as one of Maine’s best small places to work by the Best Companies Group as well as by NIC Maine staff,” said Dan Andrews, NIC Maine General Manager. “Maine has so many amazing businesses, and we are proud to join this fantastic group of companies.” One of the founding principles of every NIC office is to be the best place employees have ever worked. NIC is incredibly proud of each office’s commitment to upholding that promise to our NIC family. To learn more about NIC Maine and its fourth-consecutive honor, visit https://lnkd.in/eEcqbph
On Monday, Nov. 16, NIC and the Center for Digital Government discussed digital payments “do’s and don’ts,” best practices for integration and security and much more in a webinar, “Doing Digital Payments Right: Expert Advice for Cities and Counties.” The webinar, presented by Government Technology, featured NIC Vice President of Payments Sloane Wright and former South Dakota CIO Otto Doll, as well as other experts from the Center for Digital Government.
With more than 120,000 results delivered across the Southeast since August, NIC is rolling out the TourHealth secure COVID-19 testing solution in South Carolina. There will be four testing sites in the cities of Florence, Sumter and Myrtle Beach. “As South Carolina’s digital solutions partner, we are dedicated to helping the state keep residents and visitors safe during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond,” said Corinne Holland, General Manager of NIC South Carolina. TourHealth uses NIC’s Gov2Go platform to make the COVID-19 testing experience more convenient. Those wanting to get tested can register at GetGov2Go.com to find testing locations, schedule appointments and receive their results. “We are very excited to offer free, convenient COVID-19 testing to residents in the Florence, Myrtle Beach and Sumter areas,” said James Bruckner, Pee Dee Region Public Health Director for the S.C. Department of Health & Environmental Control.
NIC is proud to sponsor the 2020 National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) Annual Conference and especially proud to be one of this year’s Give Back Sponsors supporting the Minnesota Central Kitchen (MCK). The Minnesota Central Kitchen brings together restaurants, caterers and hunger-fighting organizations to tackle hunger and layoffs brought on by the pandemic. The program hires laid-off kitchen workers to prepare meals with donated and rescued food for those in need and serves more than 42,000 individual and family-style takeout meals per week to hungry Minnesotans. As of August, five months after its launch in response to COVID-19, MCK has served more than 600,000 meals, employed 139 food service workers and rescued 868,550 pounds of food. As a sponsor of the NASCIO Annual Conference, NIC leaders Doug Rogers, Tamara Dukes and Angela (Fultz) Nordstrom are also participating in deep dive topics on diversity, equity and inclusion; privacy issues; cyber funding; and chatbots.
For communities looking to reopen their doors, COVID-19 testing is critical and changing fast. In a new article for Government Technology, Doug Rogers, NIC’s Senior Vice President of Strategic Initiatives, shares five critical tips to maximize COVID-19 testing in your community and how our testing solution, TourHealth, can help.
Pulaski County, Ark., is the first in the state to provide payment options for taxpayers who want to pay their property and real estate tax bills in person with cash. Working with the state’s digital solutions partner NIC Arkansas, Pulaski County announced the new service at a press conference last week. The new walk-in payment option in Pulaski County is made possible through a strategic relationship between NIC Inc., a national leader in digital government solutions, and CheckFreePay® Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of global payments and financial technology provider Fiserv. “NIC is proud to bring this cash bill payment solution to our longtime state partners in Arkansas,” said Bob Sanders, General Manager of NIC Arkansas. “Our goal at NIC is making government services more accessible to citizens and businesses. This new service does just that – all while keeping residents and government employees safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
News alert: NIC has won new multi-year contracts with the states of Florida and Iowa for payment processing and digital government solutions. “We are excited by the confidence Florida and Iowa have placed in NIC solutions as we continue to expand our payment processing and digital government services across the country,” said Harry Herington, NIC CEO and Chairman of the Board. “These wins further reinforce the momentum NIC has experienced in 2020.” In Florida, NIC has been awarded a contract to provide transaction-funded payment processing services for all state agencies. In Iowa, NIC will once again serve as the state’s enterprise digital government solutions partner after a 15-year partnership concluded in 2017.
