As we close out a successful year of program growth, increased adoption, and continued engagement across our community, GovRAMP is preparing to build on this momentum as we enter 2026. This year has brought several changes across the federal and state cybersecurity ecosystem—the full impact of which is still unfolding. Throughout these shifts, GovRAMP has remained committed to serving governments and the private sector with steady program operations, thoughtful framework harmonization efforts, and several enhancements across policy, guidance, and security resources.
Strengthening Clarity and Consistency Across the Public Sector Ecosystem
GovRAMP’s purpose is rooted in service: providing governments and the private sector with clear, accessible, and streamlined security expectations. In support of this mission, GovRAMP remains focused on strengthening clarity across requirements, improving usability for service providers of all sizes, and supporting alignment with national cybersecurity expectations. As adoption continues to grow among state, local, tribal, territorial, and education organizations, our priority is ensuring the program continues to meet the needs of those we serve.
Several updates planned for early 2026 will continue this work and reinforce GovRAMP’s role as a stable, trusted partner for the public and private sector cybersecurity community.
Program Enhancements Coming in Early 2026
Security Program Modernization
- Progressing Security Snapshot program updates
Strengthens transparency for governments while giving providers clearer markers of progress within the security lifecycle. - GovRAMP High Impact Level
Expands our ability to support providers seeking to demonstrate higher security maturity within their commercial solutions, offering a pathway for organizations that choose to align with High Impact expectations.
- Rev.5 alignment updates
Strengthens how GovRAMP communicates alignment with NIST 800-53 Rev. 5 by developing clearer, GovRAMP-curated materials to help governments and providers more easily understand overlapping requirements and how GovRAMP’s program decisions reflect Rev. 5 standards.
- Updated CJIS-Aligned Overlay (v6.0 aligned)
Ensures law enforcement agencies and providers can rely on up-to-date, uniform guidance.
- Updated ConMon policies incorporating Core Status
Improves visibility into ongoing security health and strengthens alignment across all GovRAMP statuses.
- Enhancements to the Data Classification Tool
Supports governments in determining appropriate security requirements based on the data a product processes, stores, or transmits.
- GenAI Significant Change and AI Self-Reporting Addendum
Improves transparency by helping governments understand where and how generative AI capabilities are used, supporting more informed risk decisions.
- Exploration of alignment pathways for FedRAMP 20x
Supports continued ecosystem harmonization by exploring potential pathways for providers seeking to pursue both FedRAMP 20x and GovRAMP authorizations, strengthening clarity and efficiency across the public-sector security landscape.
Additional enhancements—including continued ConMon modernization, exploration of a Privacy/HIPAA Overlay, CMMC reciprocity research, and automation improvements—will follow throughout the year.
Rooted in ensuring accessibility, these updates reinforce that GovRAMP continues to deliver a clear, efficient, and trusted path for governments and providers working to strengthen their security posture.
Advancing Harmonization Across National Frameworks
As governments and the private sector navigate increasingly overlapping frameworks and requirements, GovRAMP remains committed to leading practical, public sector focused framework harmonization efforts that reduce redundancy and strengthen clarity across the ecosystem.
This includes bringing stakeholders together to promote the “assess once to serve many” model; encouraging federal regulatory harmonization to reduce duplicative requirements; and continuing to request a fast-track path for reciprocity from GovRAMP to FedRAMP, all to better support the governments and providers we serve. These efforts are centered on helping the community reduce redundant effort, clarify expectations, and navigate the evolving national cybersecurity landscape with greater ease and confidence.
Expanding Adoption Across States and Large Local Governments
Engagement continues to grow among states, large municipalities, counties, and education institutions. In the year ahead, GovRAMP will focus on:
- Increasing the number of participating governments
- Supporting implementation of Core, Ready, and Authorized statuses
- Scaling best-practice adoption among large local governments
- Developing usable models for jurisdictions of varying sizes
- Enhancing alignment between procurement policy and consistent cybersecurity requirements
With several states implementing Core in 2025, GovRAMP is becoming a foundational component of secure procurement strategies across the country, supporting governments in reducing risk and strengthening their security posture.
Integrating AI Security and Trustworthiness
GovRAMP’s AI Security Task Force and Advisory Council have identified several updates to address the growing role of generative AI within cloud products to facilitate trusted and rapid adoption of this new technology. These include:
- Gen AI Significant Change and a Self-Reporting Addendum
Requiring notification of gen AI in cloud products with a brief self-reporting addendum increases transparency by helping governments understand where and how AI capabilities are used within cloud services, strengthening informed risk decisions.
- AI Overlay aligned with NIST guidance
The forthcoming overlay will provide structured expectations for AI-enabled cloud offerings, giving governments a clear framework grounded in widely adopted national standards.
- Guidance on trustworthiness and shared responsibilities
This guidance will clarify how AI responsibilities are divided between providers and governments, supporting consistent understanding of risk, accountability, and operational boundaries.
GovRAMP appreciates the work of the Task Force and committees in ensuring governments have access to clear, actionable guidance as AI capabilities continue to evolve.
Strengthening Procurement and Governance Infrastructure
To support continued program growth, GovRAMP will also advance several governance and procurement initiatives, including:
- Enhancements to procurement guidance and training
- Continued refinement of committee processes and governance best practices
- Strengthening organizational and financial resiliency
- Expanded collaboration with partners, committees, and the PMO
This work supports transparency, stability, and long-term program stewardship.
A Forward-Looking Framework Built for the Public Good
GovRAMP enters the new year with aligned priorities, strengthened community engagement, and a clear roadmap for program evolution. As federal communication timelines normalize, GovRAMP remains focused on delivering continuity, clarity, and accessible tools that support secure cloud adoption across the public sector.
We are deeply grateful for the time, expertise, and commitment that our committee members, task forces, partners, and supporters have invested this year. Their contributions have positioned GovRAMP for a year ahead filled with meaningful opportunities to strengthen security outcomes for everyone across our ecosystem as we continue unifying and supporting the broader public sector community.
Our mission remains constant:
to support the public sector in defense against cyber threats through a comprehensive, streamlined, and accessible cybersecurity assessment framework—and to reduce compliance burdens for providers offering secure solutions to governments.
GovRAMP will continue providing the clarity, stability, and guidance necessary to support governments and providers in the year ahead.