Arlington Maps Out AI, Cybersecurity And Digital Service Priorities

ARLINGTON, VA — Arlington County plans to make its online services easier to navigate while preparing its data for artificial intelligence and strengthening its defenses against cyberattacks under a new four-year digital strategy.

The county’s 2027-2030 Digital Strategy identifies three areas of focus: seamless interaction, actionable information and smart resilience. The Department of Technology Services will work with other county departments to develop and prioritize projects within those areas.

The strategy calls for faster transactions, more accessible websites and applications, expanded language and communication options, and smoother transitions between online and human assistance. It also proposes reducing manual steps by shifting common services to integrated digital workflows.

Preparing Arlington For AI

Arlington intends to establish standards governing how departments define, manage and share data. The goal is to give employees access to consistent information while reducing duplicated work and data silos across county government.

The county also plans to create shared dashboards for operational measurements and develop a countywide community of data analysts to exchange best practices.

Those efforts are intended to make county data “AI-ready” and support the responsible adoption of artificial intelligence. Arlington plans to expand policies, safeguards and other capabilities so departments can use AI securely and equitably to improve access, reduce barriers and address operational needs, according to the strategy.

All new and updated technology purchases will be reviewed by the Department of Technology Services for security, privacy, regulatory compliance, accessibility, interoperability and potential duplication of existing systems.

Cybersecurity And System Reliability

The strategy calls for replacing aging systems with cloud-based or otherwise supportable platforms. County officials expect modernization to reduce risk, improve reliability and lower long-term maintenance costs.

Arlington also plans to replace critical network equipment, add internet service pathways for redundancy and update its Telecommunications Master Plan. Other priorities include modernizing backup and recovery systems, retiring unsupported servers and improving the tracking of hardware and software.

The county’s Cybersecurity Strategy roadmap will guide investments intended to help Arlington prevent, detect and recover from cyber incidents. Officials also plan to maintain an inventory of mission-critical systems and prepare for disruptions so essential services can continue during emergencies.

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Ten principles will guide the selection of technology projects. They include demonstrating measurable value, simplifying processes before digitizing them, reusing shared systems and delivering improvements in smaller increments instead of through large, multiyear launches.

The document does not provide project-specific completion dates, budgets or numerical performance targets. Instead, its goals and principles will be used to shape Arlington’s future portfolio of technology initiatives and determine which projects are advanced, revised, delayed or stopped.