2026 Top 10 Trends and Priorities for Government - Local & Municipalities
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Strengthen cybersecurity practices
The Challenge
Overcome a surging wave of cyberattacks targeting local government.
Local governments are among the most targeted entities for ransomware, phishing, and nation-state intrusions – and the threat is no longer theoretical. Aging infrastructure, understaffed IT teams, and limited security budgets create vulnerabilities that attackers are actively exploiting. Ransomware attacks on local governments rose sharply in 2024, with recovery costs averaging millions of dollars and disruptions lasting weeks. Many municipalities still operate without a dedicated security operations function, leaving essential services (911 dispatch, utility billing, permitting) exposed. NASCIO has ranked cybersecurity as the #1 state and local IT priority for over a decade, and the CDG Digital Cities and Counties surveys consistently identify it as the top local government investment area. This is not an area leaders are exploring; it is one they are forced to confront daily.
Why It Matters
Secure public trust and protect essential services.
A successful cyberattack on local government does not just cost money – it erodes constituent trust, disrupts life-critical services, and triggers state and federal oversight. The question is no longer whether an attack will occur, but when. Governments that fail to invest proactively in cybersecurity face regulatory consequences, loss of federal grant eligibility, rising insurance premiums, and reputational damage that takes years to repair. Conversely, those that act now are better positioned to qualify for federal CISA SLCGP cyber grants, reduce insurance costs, and demonstrate responsible stewardship of public data. Cybersecurity is also the prerequisite for every other digital initiative: no organization can safely expand AI, cloud, or digital service capabilities on an insecure foundation. Guidance and best practices from Info-Tech are critical for helping leaders build defensible, right-sized security programs.
The Solution
Create a comprehensive, risk-based cybersecurity strategy.
Develop a systematic approach to cybersecurity that identifies threats, vulnerabilities, and potential consequences. Align investments with actual risk exposure rather than checkbox compliance. The cost of inaction – in dollars, downtime, and public trust – now far exceeds the cost of investment.
Adopt zero-trust architecture.
Move toward a zero-trust model that assumes no user or device is inherently trusted. This is no longer aspirational – it is required to protect expanding attack surfaces created by remote work, cloud migration, and connected infrastructure.
Build workforce and governance capacity.
Invest in cybersecurity training across all staff, not just IT. Establish clear incident response plans, conduct regular tabletop exercises, and pursue shared SOC services through regional or state-level partnerships to extend capacity without proportional cost increases.
Empower digital government
The Challenge
Meet the growing constituent demand for accessible, seamless digital services.
Local governments are under mounting pressure to match the digital experience citizens encounter in the private sector – and the gap is no longer tolerable. Constituents expect to complete permits, pay bills, request services, and engage with their government through intuitive mobile-first platforms – yet many municipalities still rely on in-person or paper-based processes. The CDG Digital Cities and Counties surveys consistently award the highest scores to governments that have invested in omnichannel service delivery. Digital citizen experience scores 5 out of 5 for local government in the external trend heat map – the highest of any trend in the local segment. Equity considerations are also central: digital services must be accessible to residents without reliable broadband or digital literacy skills. This is not an area for incremental improvement – it is now required to avoid constituent disengagement, service backlogs, and growing equity gaps.
Why It Matters
Empower constituents through equitable, accessible digital services.
Digital services are no longer a convenience – they are required to maintain equitable access to government services and meaningful participation in democratic processes. Ensuring robust authentication and redesigning service delivery processes are crucial for reducing touchpoints and meeting service level expectations. Governments that successfully digitize constituent experiences see measurable improvements in resident satisfaction, reduced administrative overhead, and stronger community engagement. Those that delay risk falling further behind private-sector benchmarks, increasing call center volumes, and widening the digital divide. Building accessibility and security in by design – rather than as afterthoughts – is essential for long-term sustainability. Info-Tech guidance on human-centered design and digital strategy can help municipalities accelerate this transition.
The Solution
Identify the value streams and use cases that provide the most value.
Use human-centered design, personas, and empathy mapping to identify the best value streams and use cases for digital service delivery. This includes creating user-friendly interfaces and mobile applications that meet residents where they are.
Ensure seamless access and address conflicts.
Identify and address potential areas of conflict such as privacy, legal, technical, and compliance/security issues. Map value streams, shared capabilities, and conflict areas against a digital government reference architecture. Failing to address these conflicts early creates downstream barriers that stall or derail digital initiatives.
Develop a roadmap and safeguard data.
Create a roadmap for scaling digital services across the organization. Align data collection, sharing, storage, and analysis for informed decision-making. Safeguard systems and data from cyber threats through proactive monitoring and process controls.
Effectively integrate AI
The Challenge
Balance the transformative potential and real governance risks of AI in local government.
AI has decisively moved from pilots and curiosity to operational deployment across local government – powering 311 chatbots, permitting automation, predictive infrastructure maintenance, and fraud detection in benefits programs. NASCIO’s 2024 Strategic Priorities place AI among the top three priorities for government CIOs. However, local governments now face urgent governance, legal, and reputational risks that many did not anticipate. Public Records Act requests are already being filed for employee queries made in tools like Microsoft Copilot, as well as chatbot interactions with constituents – exposing governments that lack retention policies, acceptable use guidelines, and transparency frameworks. Algorithmic bias in service delivery, data privacy concerns, and equity implications add further risk. Deloitte’s GovTech Trends highlights AI-enabled service automation as a near-term operational priority, with agentic AI – systems that act autonomously on multi-step tasks – emerging as the next frontier. The conversation has shifted: the question is no longer whether to pursue AI, but how to govern it responsibly before public scrutiny outpaces organizational readiness.
Why It Matters
AI can significantly improve service delivery speed, reduce administrative burden, and enable data-driven resource allocation for local governments operating under budget pressure.
Automating eligibility screening, streamlining permit workflows, and deploying conversational AI for resident services free staff to focus on complex, high-value work. However, without governance frameworks and responsible AI policies, poorly deployed AI risks eroding public trust, introducing bias, and creating serious legal liability. Interested parties are already scrutinizing how government uses AI to make decisions and deliver services – and they will be critical of gaps in policy, transparency, and accountability. Municipalities that invest in AI readiness now – including data quality, governance infrastructure, retention policies for AI-generated content, and workforce upskilling – will be best positioned to scale successful deployments and meet emerging state AI legislation requirements. Those that delay risk being caught without defensible policies when the next public records request or audit arrives.
The Solution
Develop an AI strategy aligned to the IT roadmap.
Incorporate AI strategy into the broader IT plan. Clearly communicate to leadership the difference between traditional AI, generative AI, and agentic AI. Establish responsible AI policies covering bias mitigation, transparency, data privacy, and – critically – content retention and public records compliance. Governments that fail to define acceptable use and data retention policies for AI tools like Copilot and chatbots risk exposure to public records requests they are unprepared to fulfill.
Identify and prioritize high-value use cases
Focus on use cases with measurable ROI and manageable risk: resident-facing chatbots, document summarization, predictive maintenance, and fraud detection. Use capability maps to identify and sequence opportunities. Ensure each deployment is accompanied by governance guardrails appropriate to its risk level.
Build data infrastructure and workforce capacity.
Ensure AI tools have access to reliable, governed data – AI readiness depends on data quality, not just technology adoption. Identify workforce impacts and develop upskilling programs so staff can work effectively alongside AI-assisted systems. Info-Tech guidance on responsible AI frameworks and data governance best practices is critical for building a defensible, scalable AI program.
Modernize IT
The Challenge
Overcome persistent legacy system hurdles that limit service delivery and AI readiness.
Local governments face significant challenges modernizing aging applications. Many core systems – permit management, land records, utility billing, and 311 platforms – are decades old, lack vendor support, and cannot integrate with modern cloud services or AI tools. IDC’s Government IT Spending Outlook confirms that legacy modernization is one of the top three investment categories for state and local IT budgets. Deloitte’s GovTech Trends highlights modernization as both a fiscal lever and a prerequisite for digital transformation. Modernization is not a standalone strategy item – it is a prerequisite for AI adoption, improved service delivery, and digital government. Without it, municipalities cannot take advantage of cloud-native capabilities, AI, or mobile service delivery. The cost of deferral is compounding: every year of delay increases technical debt, security exposure, and the gap between constituent expectations and government capability.
Why It Matters
Modernize to serve constituents and unlock digital potential.
Application modernization is essential to holistically serve the needs of the community. Modern systems directly enable faster digital service delivery, better data sharing across departments, and the data infrastructure AI tools require to function effectively. Governments that modernize proactively reduce long-term total cost of ownership, improve security posture, and create the technical foundation needed to respond quickly to evolving constituent expectations and mandates. Those that defer modernization are not preserving the status quo – they are actively falling behind, accumulating risk, and blocking their own ability to leverage AI, analytics, and cloud-based services. Info-Tech best practices on application portfolio management and modernization roadmaps provide the structured approach leaders need to make the case and execute effectively.
The Solution
Establish a digital application vision.
Guide modernization efforts and ensure alignment with organizational objectives by gaining a grounded understanding of the digital application landscape and prioritizing attributes against digital business goals. Recognize that modernization is now required to avoid being locked out of AI, cloud, and digital service capabilities.
Define the modernization approach.
Obtain a thorough view of the organization and technical complexities, risks, and impacts. Employ the right modernization techniques based on the organization’s change tolerance, ensuring a smooth transition. Communicate the business case clearly: the risk of inaction now exceeds the risk of change.
Build a roadmap.
Clarify the organizational changes needed to support modernization and adoption of digital applications. Provide a clear path forward to manage the transition effectively, with milestones that demonstrate incremental value and build momentum for continued investment.
Attract and retain IT talent
The Challenge
Address an intensifying public sector IT talent crisis compounded by the AI skills gap.
Local governments are losing the talent competition to private sector employers – particularly in AI, cloud, and cybersecurity roles where demand is surging. Traditional incentives such as pension benefits and job security are losing appeal with younger candidates who prioritize flexibility, career growth, and meaningful work. NASCIO’s CIO Survey consistently identifies workforce as a top constraint, and workforce and talent modernization scores 4 out of 5 for local government in the external trend heat map. The emergence of AI also creates a new and urgent skills gap: existing IT staff often lack the machine learning, data engineering, and AI governance skills required to manage and oversee AI deployments. The highly structured and seniority-based nature of public sector HR systems further slows hiring and limits agility in responding to market compensation pressures. This is not a challenge leaders can defer – without the right talent, every other priority on this list is at risk of stalling.
Why It Matters
Meet modern workforce expectations or lose the talent war.
Offering flexible hiring and work models, agile governance structures, and cross-agency talent pools is no longer optional – it is required to avoid critical vacancies in cybersecurity, AI, and cloud roles that directly constrain service delivery. These changes create a more attractive work environment and provide opportunities for skill growth and career advancement. Governments that fail to modernize their talent strategies will find themselves unable to execute on their AI, modernization, and digital government agendas. Info-Tech workforce planning and talent strategy guidance helps public sector leaders build competitive, sustainable programs.
The Solution
Understand workforce trends and impacts.
Learn about IT workforce trends and their effects on the organization. Gauge the impact of these trends on specific capabilities – especially AI governance, cloud management, and cybersecurity – to stay ahead of challenges and opportunities.
Provide training and meaningful projects.
Offer ongoing training and professional development, especially leadership programs and AI literacy initiatives. Assign IT professionals to challenging and meaningful projects that align with their interests to keep them engaged and motivated.
Implement flexible work arrangements and leadership programs.
Adopt flexible work arrangements, including remote work outside high-cost jurisdictions. Implement leadership programs that accelerate promotions for highly talented employees, focusing on skills and expertise rather than seniority, tenure, and formal education. The cost of maintaining rigid, outdated HR structures is now measured in unfilled positions and undelivered services.
Manage valuable data assets
The Challenge
Bolster data management to power AI, analytics, and better decisions.
Local governments generate and hold vast amounts of data – permitting records, utility usage, public safety incidents, and financial transactions – yet this data is often siloed, inconsistently formatted, and difficult to access across departments. Without clean, governed, and interoperable data, AI initiatives will fail to deliver results and analytics efforts will remain immature. Data is not a standalone strategy item – it is a prerequisite for AI, improved service delivery, and evidence-based decision-making. McKinsey’s public sector research and IDC’s Government IT Spending data both underscore that data platform investment is a top-tier priority for governments seeking to improve efficiency and service delivery. Data and analytics modernization scores 4 out of 5 for local government in the external trend heat map. Federal interoperability mandates and open data requirements further elevate the urgency. Governments that neglect data quality and governance are not just missing an opportunity – they are undermining every AI and analytics investment they make.
Why It Matters
Empower data-driven decisions and unlock the value of AI.
Proper data management ensures that local government can leverage its data assets to enhance operational efficiency and service delivery. More critically, effective data governance is the foundation that makes AI deployments viable – without reliable, accessible, well-governed data, AI tools produce unreliable outputs and erode trust rather than building it. Governments with mature data practices are better positioned to meet federal reporting requirements, reduce compliance risk, and make faster, better-informed decisions on resource allocation and service design. Data management is now required to avoid failed AI investments, audit exposure, and the inability to respond to constituent demands for transparency. Info-Tech’s data strategy and governance frameworks provide the structured approach needed to move from aspiration to execution.
The Solution
Align data management with strategic plans.
Ensure data initiatives support the broader objectives of the organization by aligning data management plans with agency requirements and strategic goals. Position data governance explicitly as a prerequisite for AI readiness – not a parallel initiative.
Create a collaborative plan.
Unite IT and the organization in managing data assets by developing a collaborative plan. This plan should be scalable and adaptable to evolving needs, with clear accountability for data quality across departments.
Identify gaps and implement corrective actions.
Perform data strategy planning to identify gaps in current data services and the supporting environment. Determine effective corrective actions to address these gaps and enhance data management practices. Without this foundation, AI deployments will underperform and analytics will remain immature.
Transform communities
The Challenge
Evolve beyond legacy smart city frameworks toward AI-powered, inclusive community models.
Traditional smart city approaches have focused largely on urban technology deployments, leaving rural and regional governments without applicable frameworks. A new model is emerging: the collaborative smart community, where AI, GIS, and connected infrastructure work together to improve resident quality of life across both urban and rural settings. Ensuring equitable broadband access remains a foundational challenge – without connectivity, digital services cannot reach underserved populations. IoT and smart infrastructure scores 5 out of 5 for local governments in the external trend heat map. Accenture’s Technology Vision for Government highlights AI agents and platform ecosystems as the next frontier for community-facing service delivery. While smart communities remain a high-priority aspiration, they have become more situational and enabling in nature – rising to the top when triggered by federal grants, broadband legislation, or a visible infrastructure failure, rather than being a daily operational fire.
Why It Matters
Elevate community life, sustainability, and digital inclusion.
Collaborative smart community development enhances quality of life, promotes sustainability, and fosters social cohesion. Leveraging AI and data analytics enables more personalized, proactive services for constituents. Ensuring equitable broadband access connects communities in both physical and digital realms, addressing one of the most persistent equity gaps in local government service delivery. Communities that invest in shared digital infrastructure and interoperable platforms are better positioned to attract investment and deliver cost-effective services at scale. While not a daily-fire priority for every municipality, smart community capabilities become urgent when grant opportunities, legislative mandates, or infrastructure failures demand a rapid response – and governments without a framework in place will miss those windows.
The Solution
Embrace AI solutions and geographic information systems (GIS).
Local government leaders must leverage AI and implement sound GIS solutions to create smart communities. These technologies can improve decision-making and resource allocation and provide personalized services to constituents.
Ensure equitable broadband access.
Enable communities to benefit from digital services and foster social inclusion by ensuring equitable access to broadband across rural and urban divides. Without connectivity, no smart community initiative can achieve its intended impact.
Promote shared digital identity and model communities.
Support collaboration between stakeholders and build seamlessly connected communities in physical and digital realms through shared digital identity solutions and model communities, supported by virtual simulations. Position these capabilities as ready-to-activate when grants, legislation, or visible failures create the urgency and funding to act.
Master the cloud
The Challenge
Shift from cloud planning to cloud execution, optimization, and AI enablement.
Most local governments have moved past the question of whether to adopt cloud and are now focused on how to manage hybrid and multicloud environments effectively. The challenge is no longer adoption – it is governance, cost optimization, vendor management, and security in a multicloud world. Cloud migration and shared services scores 3 out of 5 for local governments in the external trend heat map, reflecting that while important, the urgency has moderated compared to cybersecurity and digital services. However, the reality on the ground is more nuanced: many governments are still actively working to deliver cloud services and implement cloud-smart application portfolio management. Government remains behind the private sector here – a gap that is increasingly difficult to justify given that cloud is the enabling infrastructure for AI workloads, modern application delivery, and remote workforce support. Shared regional cloud services are emerging as a cost-effective model for smaller municipalities.
Why It Matters
Reduce risk, improve performance, and enable the next generation of digital services.
A well-governed hybrid multicloud strategy optimizes performance, reduces risks, and ensures flexibility. It enhances IT operations, improves service delivery, and positions the organization to adopt advanced analytics and AI capabilities. Cloud platforms also provide the scalable infrastructure needed to handle spikes in constituent demand and support disaster recovery requirements – both of which are increasingly important as local governments deliver more services digitally. Despite years of progress, government organizations have not yet fully figured out cloud – and the gap is widening as cloud becomes the prerequisite infrastructure for AI, automation, and digital services. Continued investment in cloud services and cloud-smart portfolio management is now required to avoid falling further behind.
The Solution
Conduct a comprehensive assessment and architecture design.
Assess current IT infrastructure and develop a scalable, flexible architecture integrating on-premises, private, and public cloud resources. Ensure the architecture is scalable, flexible, and interoperable across cloud environments. Governments that have not yet completed this step are operating on borrowed time.
Implement data management and a security strategy.
Establish data management policies and a security strategy with controls like identity management, encryption, and compliance with regulations to govern the storage, access, sharing, and protection of data in the hybrid multicloud environment.
Manage and maintain the cloud environment.
Define roles, responsibilities, and SLAs, and implement monitoring and incident response mechanisms for effective management to ensure operational excellence. Cloud-smart portfolio management must be treated as an ongoing discipline, not a one-time migration project.
Improve public safety
The Challenge
Navigate growing technology complexity and accountability demands in public safety.
Ineffective technology development and implementation can negatively impact the frontline experience and the relationship between public safety professionals and the communities they serve. Traditional approaches to innovation often fail to meet the needs of frontline staff, and technology decisions in public safety face intense scrutiny. New capabilities – AI-assisted dispatch, predictive policing analytics, body camera data management, and license plate recognition – offer genuine operational improvements but also raise serious equity, privacy, and civil liberties concerns that must be proactively governed. Accenture’s Technology Vision for Government flags responsible AI in public safety as a governance-sensitive priority requiring structured policy frameworks before deployment. The consequences of getting this wrong are immediate and public – making governance and community engagement prerequisites, not afterthoughts.
Why It Matters
Build trust through frontline efficiency and responsible technology governance.
Effective technology in public safety is essential for enhancing the efficiency and safety of front-line staff, improving community relations, and ensuring public trust. High levels of maturity in governance, deployment, community engagement, and management of technology are required to avoid public backlash, legal liability, and erosion of trust. The increasing volume of digital evidence – particularly body camera footage – is creating significant data storage and management challenges that CIOs must plan for proactively. Responsible AI frameworks for policing applications are becoming a baseline expectation from communities and oversight bodies alike. Governments that deploy these technologies without robust governance risk visible, high-profile failures.
The Solution
Focus on capabilities and value.
Prioritize capabilities and value over technology type. This strategic shift-left approach ensures that strategic priorities are addressed at the front end of technology initiatives, reducing the risk of deploying tools that lack governance or community support.
Balance governance and urgency.
Tackle systemic funding model challenges that delay the acquisition of technologies by balancing the need for robust governance with an organizational sense of urgency. In public safety, the cost of delayed modernization is measured in frontline effectiveness and community trust.
Engage the community.
Ensure effective engagement of the community around technology decisions by facilitating transparent communication and collaboration with stakeholders to build trust and support for public safety technology initiatives. Community engagement is now required to avoid opposition that can derail even well-intentioned technology deployments.
Manage vendors and contracts
The Challenge
Navigate vendor management risks in an increasingly complex technology procurement landscape.
Local governments often struggle with vendor management due to limited governance frameworks, leading to inefficiencies, increased costs, and compliance risks. Procurement innovation scores 5 out of 5 for local governments in the external trend heat map – reflecting the operational reality that municipalities rely heavily on external vendors for core system delivery, cloud services, and AI tools. Without structured vendor oversight, governments risk vendor lock-in, SLA failures, and technology decisions driven by vendor preferences rather than constituent needs. As AI and cloud vendor relationships grow more complex, the CIO’s role in vendor governance – including contract negotiation, performance monitoring, and exit planning – has become a strategic capability in its own right. Vendor management may not be a daily-fire priority, but when a contract fails, a vendor underperforms, or a procurement decision locks the organization into an unsuitable platform, the consequences are immediate and costly.
Why It Matters
Enhance efficiency, accountability, and value from vendor relationships.
Proper vendor management is crucial for local governments to control costs, mitigate risks, and comply with regulations. It ensures high-quality service delivery, fosters positive vendor relationships, and promotes transparency and accountability. As the technology vendor landscape grows more complex – with cloud providers, AI platforms, managed services, and legacy system vendors all requiring ongoing governance – structured vendor management programs are increasingly essential for protecting public investment and ensuring continuity of critical services. The ranking of vendor management reflects its nature as an enabling capability: it underpins the success of cloud, AI, and modernization initiatives without always being the top-of-mind priority. However, neglecting it is now a risk governments cannot afford.
The Solution
Craft a vision and governance structure.
Define a governance structure for the vendor management program, including roles, responsibilities, decision-making processes, and progress metrics, alongside a vision statement. Without this foundation, vendor relationships default to reactive management and missed leverage points.
Assess and categorize vendors.
Conduct a thorough assessment of the current vendor landscape and existing relationships. Identify all vendors, contracts, and services in use, as well as any gaps or areas for improvement. Categorize vendors based on their criticality and track costs and deliverables over time.
Communicate and train stakeholders.
Communicate the vendor management program objectives, policies, and procedures to all relevant stakeholders. Provide training and support to staff involved in vendor management activities to ensure compliance and consistency. As AI and cloud vendor ecosystems grow more complex, this capability is required to avoid lock-in, cost overruns, and service disruptions.
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