Federal lawmakers have become more aware of state and local technology concerns, state officials say. As part of the National Association of State Chief Information Officers’ fourth annual DC Fly-In, 15 state CIOs spoke to Congress about national issues such as communications interoperability, information security and state-specific topics. In the past, CIOs spent much of their time explaining the basic issues, but this year congressional members and their staffers not only understood basic IT concepts but also sought input. “When we came four years ago and talked about enterprise architecture, that was almost a foreign term….It’s now a part of their language,” said Missouri CIO Gerry Wethington, president of NASCIO. Full Story