Noelle Knell

We’ve heard a lot over the past two years about the ways in which the shift to remote work and school really exposed the digital divide. Those who could easily connect to high-speed Internet have generally fared better since early 2020 than those who could not. What has been less discussed, however, are ways remote work has improved digital equity.

As the connectivity versus local control debate rages on, the prospect of 5G infrastructure blanketing the country remains a far-off concept in many areas.

Just as a school teacher roots for his students, the Center for Digital Government is hopeful every two years that each respondent to its Digital States Survey will astound with reports of their technological feats. Though a competition of sorts, the Digital States Survey is more a showcase of state government's collective technology portfolio. And the outlook suggested by the 2016 survey is as strong as one would expect given the financial growth of the gov tech sector and the public's increasing interest in civic participation.

No states received a D or F, and just eight states landed in the C grade range. A growing number of states fill out the top of the curve compared to surveys past — 20 states earned a grade of B+ or higher, and a whopping 10 states earned an A or A-. States with a solid A grade are Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Utah and Virginia. Common trends among the A students were a strong focus on cybersecurity, shared services, cloud computing, IT staffing, budgeting and use of data.