Gritty Infrastructure

 
By: Gov. Larry Rhoden
August 22, 2025  

The timing was coincidental, though certainly noteworthy. As members from my administration met with industry leaders to discuss how to strengthen our state’s critical infrastructure, we were experiencing our own significant infrastructure challenges. The first meeting of my newly appointed GRIT task force was taking place at the same time as a major technology service disruption that impacted critical functions of all branches of state government.

The service disruption was the result of a power outage, not any kind of nefarious activity – but it still underscored the need for the Governor’s Resilience and Infrastructure Task Force (GRIT). I established this GRIT task force to prepare South Dakota for the most challenging of situations. They exist as a strategic advisory body to assess risks and vulnerabilities and support long-term planning and investment in critical infrastructure. The untimely tech outage just underscored the need for their work.

While our team at the Bureau of Information & Technology (BIT) was working hard at all hours to restore connectivity and systems statewide, the GRIT task force was meeting. In fact, BIT Commissioner Mark Wixon actually had to miss the meeting to oversee the response. Through dedicated work, BIT got core networking and storage systems back online; restored internet access, wireless services, phone systems, and state radio; and restored the operationality of all state government functions.

The particulars of the response were even noteworthy. At one point, the shipping company that was bringing us a crucial piece of equipment to restore services was of the belief that the shipment had missed the truck and was stuck in Sioux Falls. Thankfully, that ended up not being the case – but the whole of state government was ready to move heaven and earth to get that piece of equipment to Pierre as quickly as possible.

We never want situations like this to arise, but we must be prepared if they do. GRIT is all about preparing a more resilient South Dakota for the future. We have established working groups to strengthen particular systems across the state, including telecommunications, energy, water and wastewater, transportation, policies and framework, and even coordination with the federal government. I am encouraged that the GRIT task force has begun its work and look forward to reviewing any recommendations that they bring forward.

Infrastructure isn’t always exciting – and when it is exciting, that’s often a bad thing. But it takes careful planning and a willingness to learn both from what went well and what didn’t. BIT will be conducting an after-action report on what went wrong with our state’s tech systems, and I encourage them not to hold back. We should be as prepared as possible to address similar situations in the future.

I am grateful for all the hardworking state employees who were themselves gritty and resilient through these outages – they found ways to get the job done even when circumstances were far less than ideal. They continued to prioritize my mission to keep South Dakota strong, safe, and free.

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