How to Innovate in Cybersecurity (and Protect Data Assets)

Nowadays, it is no secret the public sector needs more cybersecurity innovation. From the top level down, agencies nationwide are endlessly defending their resources from cyber threats — and cyber threats are constantly reinventing themselves, so agencies must keep up.

The danger perhaps is greatest for agencies that take advantage of new opportunities to identify, capture and analyze data, including from less traditional sources, such as online audio and video files.

Yet innovation is difficult without resilience. Resilience is the ability to respond to, recover from and continuously function during disruptions; without resilience, agencies may find innovation hard to reach.

Agencies can acquire both attributes by imitating the private sector. Take Technology Integration Group (TIG), an IT solutions provider. Its “Start Right” philosophy is a business methodology that can make agencies more innovative and resilient.

Here are five ways agencies can become resilient innovators, according to TIG:

Engage with Challenges

Before agencies innovate, they must clearly understand their business needs. First, they must decide how and what innovations may elevate their credibility and work. Next, these agencies must determine which of their existing capabilities already contribute toward the potential innovations. Finally, these agencies should craft proposals that capture each innovation’s impact.

Take data encryption, which converts data into a form that, ideally, only authorized parties can decipher. Agencies handle sensitive data about citizens, so protecting this information is vital for preserving public trust. Agencies without data encryption can start applying it by determining which information is most critical and may need encryption first.

Conduct Analyses Agencywide

Innovation also requires gathering as much information as possible about potential next steps.

Understanding their current operations, architecture life cycles and frameworks can not only assist agencies with refining their business needs, but help them model their future routines.

For instance, look at data storage. Currently, many agencies have legacy IT that they cannot easily restore after cyberattacks. However, using cloud computing, agencies can store backup copies of their data and become more resilient.

Build Blueprints

All innovations, including the cybersecurity variety, need roadmaps. For the best results, agencies should measure how innovations might transform their operations. By predicting the potential benefits and financial impact of any changes, agencies can craft the best possible solutions for their workforces.

Make the Case

Innovators must articulate how the changes they are proposing can take root at agencies and what investments they need to enact them. Without these details, agencies may lack lasting innovation and resilience.

Implement Effectively

To optimize the benefits they reap from innovations, agencies must first determine the best way to implement them. Ideally, implementations unfold using road maps tailored to produce the maximum number of advantages from the solutions involved.

Innovation may seem difficult on paper, but partners such as TIG can demonstrate what consistent, simple innovation that supports data collection and analysis looks like. Over time, innovative agencies develop the agility to stay resilient when cyber threats come calling.

This article appears in our guide, “Decision Intelligence: New Possibilities for Data-Based Decision-Making.” To learn more about how governments are using data to make practical decisions, download the guide.

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