Florida State University’s College of Communication and Information (CCI) partnered with the Florida Technology Council (FTC) and the Florida Department of Education (DOE) to host the 2026 Florida Government Leadership and Modernization Summit.

The summit brought together government professionals, technology experts, educators and students to exchange ideas, discuss emerging challenges and explore approaches to modernizing Florida’s public sector. This is the 4th year that the College has partnered with the Florida Technology Council to host the event (CCI has worked with FTC for over ten years to serve the state through multiple events focused on technology, AI, data needs, cybersecurity and talent).

“When government, education, and industry work together to address challenges, the impact and innovative solutions produced are more tangible and long lasting. CCI has a focus on providing our students with access to industry and with opportunities to work in the public sector to solve the issues that impact Floridians,” shared Ebe Randeree, CCI Associate Dean of Finance & Administration. “Florida Technology Council has been a leader both in Florida and across the nation in connecting industry and government and we are always happy to work with them.”

“Florida benefits when we look beyond our borders and learn from leaders who have faced the challenges we’re working to solve,” said James Taylor, president and CEO of the Florida Technology Council. “This year we invited government and industry technology leaders from across the nation to join us in Tallahassee and share their successes, setbacks and lessons that can inform decisions here at home. As a special addition to this year’s summit, our partnership with CCI and DOE created an opportunity for select students representing Florida’s ‘Great 28,’ including FSU, and Tallahassee State College, to engage directly with industry experts and build connections for their future careers.”

Sessions addressed a range of topics including artificial intelligence (AI) modernization, increasing productivity through technology and protecting organizations against cyberattacks. Students also had opportunities to attend panels focused on career development, privacy and data safety.

A highlight of this year’s event was the Fourth Annual Florida College System (FCS) Cybersecurity Competition, which challenged students to apply their technical knowledge to real-life scenarios. By connecting classroom learning with hands-on experience, the competition emphasized the importance of preparing students for careers in the rapidly evolving cybersecurity industry.

Alexander Jordan, director of operations, emergency management and campus safety for the Florida Department of Education, emphasized the significance of the initiative and its place among higher education cybersecurity programs.

“Universities alone don’t do anything like what we do for the colleges. There’s no university that does anything of this magnitude, not even on the national level,” Jordan said. “No other college state system is doing it the way we are, at the level we are, and we’ve been doing it for four years now.”

The competition is an initiative of the Florida College System Cybersecurity Collaborative, which brings together cybersecurity leaders from all 28 FCS institutions. The Collaborative works to advance cybersecurity education across the state by sharing best practices, strengthening workforce partnerships and expanding opportunities for students. 

Through its partnership with FTC and DOE, CCI helped bring together perspectives from government, industry and higher education. The collaboration underscores the value of connecting educational institutions with professionals and organizations working to address Florida’s technological challenges.