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State of California Engineering

To serve California's citizens by building innovative digital systems that deliver essential government services efficiently, securely, and equitably for all residents

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To serve California's citizens by building innovative digital systems that deliver essential government services efficiently, securely, and equitably for all residents

Strengths

  • SCALE: Largest state technology infrastructure serving 39+ million citizens provides unmatched data resources and service opportunities
  • TALENT: Access to Silicon Valley talent pool and prestigious state universities creates opportunities for recruiting top engineering talent
  • FUNDING: $1.3B technology budget allocation for FY2025 enables significant infrastructure and modernization initiatives
  • DIVERSITY: Diverse citizen base drives inclusive design thinking and broader accessibility considerations in technology solutions
  • PARTNERSHIPS: Established relationships with major technology vendors and federal agencies create leverage for resource optimization

Weaknesses

  • LEGACY: Aging technology infrastructure and technical debt requires significant modernization investment (est. $380M backlog)
  • SILOS: Fragmented systems across 150+ state agencies hamper data sharing and create redundant technology stacks
  • PROCUREMENT: Complex procurement processes average 18 months for major contracts, delaying technology implementation timelines
  • TALENT: 22% vacancy rate in technical positions due to compensation differential with private sector (avg. 35% below market)
  • SECURITY: Fragmented security infrastructure with 300+ documented vulnerabilities requiring remediation across state systems

Opportunities

  • CLOUD: Strategic migration to cloud services could reduce infrastructure costs by 28% while improving resilience and scalability
  • AUTOMATION: Process automation in permitting, licensing and benefits could reduce processing times by 65% and improve citizen satisfaction
  • ANALYTICS: Centralizing data analytics capabilities could unlock $500M+ in fraud prevention and program optimization opportunities
  • MOBILE: Expanding mobile service delivery could increase digital adoption by 40% and reduce in-person service demands by 30%
  • PARTNERSHIPS: Public-private technology partnerships could accelerate innovation cycles while reducing development costs by 25%

Threats

  • SECURITY: Increasing frequency and sophistication of cyber attacks (37% increase YoY) threatens sensitive citizen data and critical infrastructure
  • FUNDING: Budget constraints and competing priorities could limit investment in critical technology modernization initiatives
  • COMPLIANCE: Evolving regulatory requirements (CCPA, CPRA, federal) create complex compliance landscape requiring constant adaptation
  • TALENT: Intensifying competition for technical talent with private sector threatens ability to recruit and retain skilled workforce
  • EQUITY: Digital divide issues affecting 18% of population could limit reach and effectiveness of digital service delivery

Key Priorities

  • MODERNIZATION: Accelerate legacy system modernization with cloud-first strategy to improve security, reduce costs and enhance service delivery
  • INTEGRATION: Implement cross-agency data integration platform to break down silos and enable holistic citizen services
  • SECURITY: Strengthen cybersecurity posture through comprehensive security assessment, remediation program and enhanced monitoring
  • TALENT: Develop innovative talent acquisition and retention strategies to address critical technical staffing gaps
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To serve California's citizens by building innovative digital systems that deliver essential government services efficiently, securely, and equitably for all residents

MODERNIZE NOW

Accelerate legacy transformation for digital excellence

  • CLOUD: Migrate 65% of eligible workloads to cloud platforms by Q4, reducing infrastructure costs by $68M annually
  • APPLICATIONS: Modernize 35 high-priority legacy applications using microservices architecture and cloud-native design patterns
  • SECURITY: Remediate 95% of critical and high vulnerabilities across state systems, reducing overall security risk posture by 40%
  • AUTOMATION: Implement intelligent automation for 25 high-volume administrative processes, reducing processing time by 70%
BREAK SILOS

Unite systems for seamless citizen experiences

  • PLATFORM: Deploy enterprise API management platform connecting 85% of critical systems across 25 priority agencies
  • DATA: Implement unified data catalog and governance framework covering 75% of high-value state datasets
  • IDENTITY: Launch single citizen identity service adopted by 40 agencies, enabling seamless cross-agency service delivery
  • STANDARDS: Establish common data exchange standards for 12 priority domains, implemented by 90% of applicable systems
SECURE CALIFORNIA

Protect critical infrastructure and citizen data

  • ASSESSMENT: Complete comprehensive security assessments for 100% of critical systems with remediation plans by Q3
  • MONITORING: Implement advanced threat detection covering 95% of network traffic with mean detection time under 4 hours
  • RESPONSE: Establish 24/7 security operations capability with incident response SLAs under 30 minutes for critical alerts
  • TRAINING: Achieve 95% completion rate for role-based security training across all technology staff and system owners
TALENT MAGNET

Attract and retain exceptional technical talent

  • RECRUITMENT: Fill 85% of critical technical vacancies through implementation of streamlined hiring process and talent brand
  • RETENTION: Reduce voluntary turnover of technical staff to below 12% through enhanced development and recognition programs
  • SKILLS: Upskill 500 existing staff in cloud, security, and AI technologies through structured learning pathways
  • INNOVATION: Launch 3 innovation hubs partnering with universities to create talent pipeline and accelerate problem-solving
METRICS
  • Digital Service Adoption Rate: 75% by EOY 2025
  • System Availability: 99.95% uptime for critical citizen services
  • Security Incident Response: <30 min. mean time to respond to critical alerts
VALUES
  • Inclusion & Accessibility
  • Security & Privacy
  • Innovation & Excellence
  • Transparency & Accountability
  • Data-Driven Decision Making
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Align the learnings

State of California Engineering Retrospective

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To serve California's citizens by building innovative digital systems that deliver essential government services efficiently, securely, and equitably for all residents

What Went Well

  • DIGITAL: Digital service adoption increased 22% YoY, with 62% of eligible services now available through digital channels
  • CLOUD: Successfully migrated 35% of workloads to cloud environments, achieving $42M in infrastructure cost reductions
  • SECURITY: Reduced mean time to detect security incidents from 96 to 18 hours through enhanced monitoring capabilities
  • AUTOMATION: Implemented RPA solutions in 12 agencies, achieving 184,000 labor hours in annual process efficiency gains

Not So Well

  • PROJECTS: 42% of major IT projects experienced schedule delays of 3+ months, affecting planned service improvements
  • TALENT: Technical staff turnover increased to 18.5%, creating critical vacancies in cybersecurity and application development
  • INCIDENTS: Experienced 3 significant service outages affecting critical citizen services, averaging 8.2 hours of downtime each
  • BUDGET: 28% of agencies exceeded technology spending allocations due to unplanned infrastructure remediation requirements

Learnings

  • AGILE: Agencies using agile delivery methodologies completed projects 35% faster with 42% fewer post-launch defects
  • PLANNING: Inadequate capacity planning led to performance issues during peak usage periods for 5 major citizen-facing applications
  • DEPENDENCIES: Cross-agency dependencies were primary factor in 65% of project delays, highlighting need for better coordination
  • READINESS: System modernization efforts were hampered by inadequate business process redesign and change management activities

Action Items

  • GOVERNANCE: Implement enhanced portfolio governance framework to improve project delivery consistency and risk management
  • RESILIENCE: Develop comprehensive service continuity program to eliminate single points of failure in critical infrastructure
  • CAPACITY: Implement predictive capacity planning model to ensure service stability during peak demand periods
  • COORDINATION: Establish cross-agency technology coordination council to manage dependencies and align implementation timelines
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To serve California's citizens by building innovative digital systems that deliver essential government services efficiently, securely, and equitably for all residents

Strengths

  • DATA: Vast repository of citizen, business and operational data creates unparalleled training dataset opportunities for AI applications
  • SCALE: Large-scale service operations provide numerous high-value automation opportunities with significant ROI potential
  • PILOTS: Successful AI pilots in fraud detection (25% improvement) and document processing (70% efficiency gains) demonstrate value
  • GOVERNANCE: Established AI ethics framework and governance protocols provide foundation for responsible AI deployment
  • INFRASTRUCTURE: Recent cloud migration initiatives (35% complete) provide modern foundation for AI/ML implementation

Weaknesses

  • SKILLS: Critical shortage of AI/ML talent with only 48 qualified staff across all agencies against estimated need of 215+
  • QUALITY: Data quality issues affecting 40% of state datasets create barriers to effective model training and deployment
  • FRAGMENTATION: Lack of coordinated AI strategy has led to duplicative efforts and inconsistent implementation across agencies
  • PROCUREMENT: Extended procurement timelines (avg. 14 months) delay acquisition of essential AI tools and platforms
  • EXPLAINABILITY: Inadequate frameworks for AI transparency and explainability create risks for public-facing implementations

Opportunities

  • ASSISTANCE: AI-powered virtual assistants could handle 65% of routine citizen inquiries, reducing wait times and improving satisfaction
  • ANALYTICS: Predictive analytics could improve resource allocation efficiency by 30% across healthcare, social services and emergency response
  • PERSONALIZATION: AI-enabled personalization could improve service discovery by 45% and increase digital adoption rates
  • PROCESSING: Intelligent document processing could reduce application processing times by 70% and eliminate 85% of data entry errors
  • PLANNING: AI-enhanced planning models could improve infrastructure project outcomes and reduce cost overruns by 25%

Threats

  • BIAS: AI systems trained on historical data risk perpetuating existing biases and creating inequitable outcomes for vulnerable populations
  • PRIVACY: Public concern about AI and data privacy could create resistance to adoption of AI-powered government services
  • ACCOUNTABILITY: Unclear accountability frameworks for AI decisions create legal and ethical risks for mission-critical applications
  • DISPLACEMENT: Workforce concerns about job displacement could create internal resistance to AI implementation initiatives
  • REGULATION: Emerging AI regulations could create compliance challenges for existing and planned AI implementations

Key Priorities

  • FOUNDATION: Establish centralized AI Center of Excellence to coordinate strategy, share best practices and maximize resource efficiency
  • DATA: Implement enterprise data quality initiative to prepare state datasets for effective AI model training and deployment
  • TALENT: Develop comprehensive AI/ML talent strategy including recruitment, training, and partnerships with academic institutions
  • ETHICAL: Strengthen ethical AI framework with robust testing protocols to prevent bias and ensure equitable service delivery