SIIA Announces Five Recommendations for Federal Cloud and IT Reform
SIIA’s Public Sector Innovation Group (PSIG) today released an authoritative guide to help Federal CIOs and IT companies work together to effectively transition to a new cloud-based environment. SIIA crafted the guide to provide specific recommendations for fostering the development of the cloud in the Federal government and harnessing its full economic potential. PSIG released the guide as part of the NIST Cloud Computing Forum and Workshop beginning today, and to coincide with the June 9th deadline for the 18-month deliverables for the 25 Point Plan to Reform Federal IT. The report offers five key recommendations:
1. Continue to promote the “Cloud First” policy developed in 2010
2. OMB and GSA should work together and with industry to remove barriers to effective planning and procurement.
3. Promote changes to federal acquisition process and culture that to ensure they keep pace with technology
4. Lower the barrier of market entry for small businesses
5. Develop a comprehensive Federal IT strategy roadmap
Read more on SIIA’s Digital Discourse Blog
SIIA Joins Pledge for Leadership Role in Stopping Botnets
Last week, SIIA joined with a group of industry and the Obama Administration in announcing a cooperative initiative to combat malicious botnets, which a growing threat to the online economy and national security. Specifically, the Industry Botnet Group, DHS and DOC released on May 30 a set of principles for addressing the challenge of botnets across the entire Internet ecosystem. In addition to this framework for collaboration, the government also will step up public outreach efforts to educate users about online threats and will coordinate efforts to address the technical threats posed by botnets. Read more on SIIA’s Digital Discourse Blog.
More Opposition for ACTA
Three key EU committees – the Committee on Legal Affairs (Juri), Committee on Civil Liberties (LIBE) and the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) — have voted against [http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-18264856] the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). Their views will now be considered by the larger International Trade Committee (Inta) which will hold its vote on June 21st and then make a formal recommendation to the European Parliament. The European Parliament will make its final decision on ACTA in July.
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David LeDuc is Senior Director, Public Policy at SIIA. He focuses on e-commerce, privacy, cyber security, cloud computing, open standards, e-government and information policy.