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2024 Deloitte-NASCIO Survey Finds States Face Growing Cybersecurity Threats, Tight Budgets

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Nearly three-quarters of state chief information security officers say the likelihood of AI-enabled threats is “high”

NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 30, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — The 2024 edition of the biennial cybersecurity report from Deloitte and the National Association of Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) found 86% of state chief information security officers (CISOs) say their responsibilities are growing, yet more than one-third do not have a dedicated cybersecurity budget. Four of the 51 state CISOs surveyed said their state IT budgets allocate less than 1% for cybersecurity.

“The ability of government to deliver on its mission depends on data – and on the security of that data,” said Srini Subramanian, principal, Deloitte & Touche LLP and Deloitte’s global government and public services consulting leader. “The attack surface is expanding as state leaders’ reliance on information becomes increasingly central to the operation of government itself, and CISOs have an increasingly challenging mission to make the technology infrastructure resilient against ever-increasing cyber threats.”

Despite the growing importance of cybersecurity, many state CISOs indicated resources aren’t keeping pace with the growing sophistication of threats. Federal agencies generally earmark more than 10% of their IT budgets for cybersecurity, yet many states have not dedicated resources at the same pace.

The 2024 biennial Deloitte-NASCIO report surveyed state CISOs from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The emergence of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) – and its potential benefits and risks – was top of mind for many state technology leaders. Nearly three-quarters of respondents (71%) believe the risk of AI-enabled threats is “high.” However, 41% lack confidence in their team’s ability to handle them.

Legacy systems with outdated technology, particularly in public infrastructure such as transportation, water and power, are specific areas of concern.

While acknowledging the potential threat of AI, state CISOs are increasingly turning to AI and GenAI tools to shore up their cybersecurity capabilities. A total of 21 said they are already using GenAI to improve security operations, while another 22 plan to adopt GenAI within the next 12 months.

“The good news is many state CISOs have been able to increase employee headcounts, adding specialists to their teams who are focused on cybersecurity-related issues,” said Meredith Ward, deputy executive director at NASCIO and a co-author of the 2024 Deloitte-NASCIO report. “In 2020, 16% of CISOs had fewer than five employees dedicated to cybersecurity initiatives. Today, that percentage has dropped to just 4%. In addition to growing their teams, our research found these leaders are determined to find creative solutions to protect their organizations and the public.”

Nearly every state CISO reported they are involved with developing state GenAI strategy and security policy; only two did not.

Cyber threats will continue to evolve in scale and complexity, making collaboration among state CISOs, their stakeholders and government partners more important than ever.

Since 2010, Deloitte and NASCIO have conducted biennial surveys of state CISOs to provide state leaders with an update on the cybersecurity threat landscape, as well as insights to help them protect the public’s data and secure their digital systems.

The 2024 Deloitte-NASCIO Cybersecurity Study can be viewed in its entirety here.

About Deloitte
Deloitte provides industry-leading audit, consulting, tax and advisory services to many of the world’s most admired brands, including nearly 90% of the Fortune 500® and more than 8,500 U.S.-based private companies. At Deloitte, we strive to live our purpose of making an impact that matters by creating trust and confidence in a more equitable society. We leverage our unique blend of business acumen, command of technology, and strategic technology alliances to advise our clients across industries as they build their future. Deloitte is proud to be part of the largest global professional services network serving our clients in the markets that are most important to them. Bringing more than 175 years of service, our network of member firms spans more than 150 countries and territories. Learn how Deloitte’s approximately 460,000 people worldwide connect for impact at www.deloitte.com.

About NASCIO
The National Association of State Chief Information Officers is the premier network and resource for state CIOs and a leading advocate for technology policy at all levels of government. NASCIO represents state chief information officers and information technology executives from the states, territories, and the District of Columbia. For more information about NASCIO visit www.nascio.org.

Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, a UK private company limited by guarantee (“DTTL”), its network of member firms, and their related entities. DTTL and each of its member firms are legally separate and independent entities. DTTL (also referred to as “Deloitte Global”) does not provide services to clients. In the United States, Deloitte refers to one or more of the US member firms of DTTL, their related entities that operate using the “Deloitte” name in the United States and their respective affiliates. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting. Please see www.deloitte.com/about to learn more about our global network of member firms.

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stc group unveils its vision for AI-native networks at Network X 2026

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October 19, 2026

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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Oct. 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — stc group, Saudi Arabia’s leading digital enabler, has released its AI Native Core Network White Paper during Network X 2026 outlining how it plans to evolve towards an AI-native telecom network by 2030. The paper explains how the group aims to embed AI directly into its network’s design and operations to support emerging digital services and improve reliability.

stc group continues to advance its network capabilities to support AI-driven applications and changing connectivity needs. The group is upgrading its core network, which manages user connections and delivers communications services. By integrating AI deeply into this infrastructure, stc group aims to help the network adapt to changing service requirements and resolve issues with less manual intervention.

The white paper highlights how advances in AI and 5G-Advanced, the next stage of 5G, are increasing network complexity. Services such as AI-enabled calling and immersive communications require faster, more responsive connectivity. AI agents, software systems that carry out tasks on users’ behalf, also need networks to coordinate communications and computing resources around each task.

To address these requirements, the paper sets out stc’s approach spanning AI-native infrastructure, network functions and autonomous operations. It details how the group plans to develop the infrastructure needed to run AI, embed intelligence within network functions and automate more operations. These capabilities would help the network allocate resources more efficiently and recover from faults faster, while allowing engineers to focus on service improvement and oversight.

The release of this whitepaper marks an important milestone in stc group’s network evolution, building a scalable foundation for future AI services, AI agents, intelligent interaction scenarios, and next-generation 5G-A and 6G applications. Building on its existing investments, the group aims to improve network reliability, support the next generation of digital services and accelerate the industry’s transition from Cloud Native to AI Native networks.

About stc group: 

stc group is a digital enabler, offering advanced solutions and driving a role in the digitalization process. The group provides a comprehensive suite of services encompassing digital infrastructure, cloud computing, cybersecurity, Internet of Things (IoT), digital payments, digital media, and digital entertainment. The group comprises 13 subsidiaries across The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe. 

To know more about stc group: Click here  

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/stc-group-unveils-its-vision-for-ai-native-networks-at-network-x-2026-302912389.html

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Shoplazza Collaborates with TikTok to Bring Product Discovery Closer to Purchase

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October 19, 2026

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The collaboration supports TikTok’s new agentic commerce experiences, with a focus on helping merchants turn customer interest into sales.

TORONTO, Oct. 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Shoplazza, an AI-native commerce operating system, recently announced it is working with TikTok to support new agentic commerce shopping experiences. The collaboration reflects a shared focus on shortening the path from product discovery to purchase and helping merchants make more of the demand their content and advertising generate.

TikTok introduced Buy Direct and Shopping Assistant on October 5, naming Shoplazza among its commerce and payment partners. Buy Direct lets consumers buy directly from brands within TikTok, without being redirected to an external storefront. It uses Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) to connect with merchant systems, while brands remain the Merchant of Record.

Shopping Assistant answers product questions using merchant-supplied information on product pages within TikTok’s in-app browser. Shoppers can get the details they need before proceeding to checkout on the merchant’s website within the same browser.

For merchants, a shorter purchase journey can help protect the value of their customer acquisition spending. Redirects and repeated forms add friction just as a shopper is ready to buy. Losing that purchase means losing potential revenue after already paying to attract the customer.

“As platforms automate more decisions, performance increasingly depends on how well data, creative and checkout work together,” said Chao Xu, Director at Shoplazza. “TikTok’s new shopping experiences make it easier to buy while interest is fresh, helping merchants turn that interest into revenue and use each transaction to inform smarter marketing decisions.”

Shoplazza sees these developments as part of a broader convergence between advertising platforms and commerce infrastructure. From transaction data sharing and Instant Pages to Buy Direct, the opportunity is to help algorithms understand completed purchases more accurately while making it easier for shoppers to follow through.

The collaboration builds on an established relationship. Shoplazza’s merchant admin already supports catalog syncing, TikTok Pixel and Events API setup. In May, it was the sole winner of the TikTok Partner Innovation Award for Innovation in Marketing Technology – Commerce. In July, it joined the first group of TikTok for Business Agentic Hub partners, introducing AI Skills that connect store data and business insights with TikTok’s advertising intelligence.

About Shoplazza

Shoplazza is a global AI-native commerce operating system that enables brands to build, launch, and scale their online businesses. Built on an AI agent-native framework, Shoplazza integrates storefronts, marketing, payments, and operational workflows into a unified system designed to support scalable, long-term growth across global markets. Learn more at https://www.shoplazza.com/.

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Lexsoft Systems Partners With Clio to Bring Clio’s Legal AI Platform to Law Firms and Legal Departments Across EMEA

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October 19, 2026

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Lexsoft will deliver Clio products, including Clio Work and Clio Manage, and integrate them into the systems its clients already use

LONDON and MADRID, Oct. 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Lexsoft Systems, a provider of IT and business process solutions, today announced a strategic partnership with Clio, the global leader in legal AI. Through this EMEA-wide partnership, Lexsoft will deliver Clio’s platform to law firms and corporate legal departments, and integrate it with the other business-critical systems those clients run.

This agreement strengthens Lexsoft’s position as an independent legal solutions provider, and reinforces its growing presence in the UK and across Europe. It also supports the continued expansion of its carefully selected product portfolio of best-practice, global market-leading legal systems. 

Clio brings together the context of a firm’s work with trusted legal intelligence. Clio Work can draw on the matters, clients, documents, and other information already in Clio Manage, then ground that work in Clio’s global library of more than 1 billion legal documents to support research, analysis, and drafting. For Lexsoft’s global clients, that means AI designed for legal work that understands both the firm and the law.

“A practice management system is the originating point for most major legal processes — from document management and time recording through to security measures such as ethical walls,” says Carlos García-Egocheaga, CEO of Lexsoft Systems. “Until now, we’ve been reluctant to commit to a single partner, despite a wide choice of technologically robust and functionality-rich practice management systems on the market. But with the Clio platform, we’re offering customers more than practice management. Clio Manage takes practice management to a new level, from user experience to advanced functionality. Clio Work, Clio’s legal AI workspace, helps lawyers research, strategise and draft alongside Clio’s global library of legal documents. By integrating these capabilities into customers’ existing systems, we can deliver AI that works the way they do. We’re excited about the value this partnership enables us to deliver to our customers, large and small.”

The partnership lets Lexsoft build tailored environments around Clio, with deep integrations into the other systems its clients run. It helps firms across EMEA move beyond adoption of AI tools to deeper integration and a more fundamental transformation of how legal work gets done.

“Firms across Europe want AI in their daily work, and it only earns its place when it understands the context behind that work,” says Lisa Del Real, Vice President, Channel Partnerships at Clio. “Lexsoft has built its business on connecting the systems law firms and legal departments depend on. Through this partnership, Lexsoft’s clients can run Clio Manage and Clio Work on one shared foundation, so the context of each matter carries from the business of the firm into the legal work itself. They also get an implementation team that already knows how they work.”

Lexsoft is offering Clio’s products to law firms and corporate legal departments in EMEA immediately.

About Lexsoft Systems

Lexsoft provides IT and business process solutions to the legal sector across Europe, the United States, and Latin America. ISO 27017 and ISO 27001 certified, the company assists law firms and corporate legal departments (CLD) to improve their document management, knowledge management, practice management, and CRM processes, to facilitate business efficiency, improve productivity, and reduce risk. Lexsoft T3 is a proven knowledge management solution, offering one of the most comprehensive workflows for this business function. For more information, visit: www.lexsoft.com.

About Clio

Clio is the global leader in legal AI, empowering legal professionals and law firms of every size to work smarter, faster, and more securely. Purpose-built for the legal industry, Clio’s Intelligent Legal Work Platform streamlines workflows, improves decision-making, and combines powerful technology with industry-leading security. Trusted by hundreds of thousands of legal professionals in more than 130 countries, and approved by over 100 bar associations and law societies worldwide, Clio sets the standard for innovation and client success across the legal profession. Backed by world-class investors and a mission to transform the legal experience for all, Clio is defining the future of legal work through AI. Learn more at www.clio.com.

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