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By @Ammon Becar, Senior Strategic Advisor, VC3 

As a board member or trustee of a special district, you play a pivotal role in ensuring that appropriate IT resources are allocated to prevent cybersecurity threats or operational disruptions from affecting critical services. With technology and cybersecurity evolving so fast, it’s difficult to sift through the noise—what matters, and what doesn’t. Limited budgets mean you need to maximize funds and not waste dollars on unnecessary technology. 

This article shares some ways that you can futureproof your district by understanding technology trends, strengthening your strategic IT planning, ensuring your special district invests in cybersecurity essentials, and engages stakeholders appropriately. 

Understanding Technology

Trends Effective technology planning begins with the understanding that a spectrum of technology needs exist:

• Baseline: These are must-haves for secure, efficient operations. Lacking solutions such as multifactor authentication (MFA) and endpoint detection and response (EDR) can be considered negligence.
• Foundational: These are emerging essentials such as cloud services and outsourced 24/7 cybersecurity teams that will soon become baseline.
• Evolving: Technologies such as AI or mobile device management (MDM) that are not yet critical but can boost productivity, efficiency, and security.
• Innovative: Cutting-edge technologies to keep on your radar such as blockchain or 5G. 

While it may not be your job to stay on top of cutting-edge technology, it’s good to have this framework in mind when professionals evaluate your IT plan. Regularly assess which technologies are moving from “nice-to-have” to “must have” so that you don’t fall behind. 

Why Strategic IT Planning Matters

A proper IT strategy is the process of planning for information technology in a way that aligns with and enables your organizational objectives. Without a strategic IT plan, special districts risk:

• Outdated systems and poor performance 
• Security vulnerabilities and data breaches Expensive, complex upgrades 
• Inefficient resource allocation 
• Cybersecurity gaps and regulatory non-compliance 

The root cause of most IT problems? Lack of planning.

A technology roadmap should include:

• Budget and priorities 
• Known risks and remediation plans for those risks 
• Timelines for implementation 
• Alignment with organizational objectives 

In this sense, you’re treating IT like any other department—with objectives, metrics, and targets.

Here’s how to get your plan in order.

1. START WITH A THOROUGH ASSESSMENT.

This involves evaluating your current infrastructure, systems, and processes while engaging with any relevant stakeholders to understand your special district’s goals and requirements. It’s also important to review your current technology solutions for effectiveness, scalability, and the ability to comply with regulatory requirements.

2. SET GOALS AND PRIORITIES.

Once you identify risks, prioritize them based on impact and likelihood. When you have a handle on your current lay of the land, some priorities will emerge. If your IT situation is chaotic and unpredictable, you’re likely going to have some catch-up to do in order to build a stable IT foundation upon which to grow.

3. ALIGN IT WITH SPECIAL DISTRICT OBJECTIVES.

IT goals should support your overall organizational goals and objectives. For example, you might want to transition legacy systems and data storage to cloud-based solutions to increase scalability, reduce costs, and improve disaster recovery capabilities. 

Cybersecurity: A Growing Threat

As part of your future-proofing, it’s essential to stay on top of cybersecurity threats. A few trends should make you sit up:

• Access to user credentials by cybercriminals continues to increase. 
• Hackers continue to exploit software vulnerabilities and outdated operating systems through zero-day vulnerabilities, support of sophisticated nation states, and going after soft targets (like your special district!). 
• Cyber threat detection has become a bigger issue. Once inside your systems, hackers often remain undetected for many, many months. 

So where do you begin? Key baseline investments include:

• Software patching 
• MFA 
• EDR 
• Data backup and disaster recovery 
• Employee policies and training 
• Email and web filtering 
• Dark web credential monitoring 
• Cyber insurance 
• 24/7 Monitoring 

Implementation, Monitoring, and Reporting

All the planning in the world is useless unless you are able to effectively implement, monitor, and report upon your IT plan. The success of your planning depends on:

• Your project management and change management frameworks 
• Clear communication plans 
• Performance monitoring, stakeholder feedback, and periodic reviews to aid continuous improvement 
• Documentation and reporting mechanisms to keep stakeholders informed and ensure accountability 

Let Technology Spur Your Vision

In the end, your future-proof strategic IT plan should connect your district’s vision with your technology investments. To think as broadly as possible, it helps to build a project list, consider your operational goals, and ask yourself what would make residents happier through the aid of technology. 

When presenting any IT plan, link technical investments to tangible benefits such as security, productivity, and service quality. For example, the use of a managed service provider may connect to existing risks related to cybersecurity, data loss, and compliance. 

Ready to future-proof your district? Start with a strategic plan, prioritize risks (including cybersecurity), and let technology drive your vision forward.

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