Last week we reported on GSA’s request for information (RFI) for companies interested in serving as cloud brokers. Responses are due August 17th. This week we learned that GSA has scheduled an industry day to discuss the RFI in more detail. In addition to addressing questions about the Cloud Brokerage RFI, speakers from GSA and other federal agencies will provide brief presentations about their perspective on next generation cloud computing improvements and how industry can help the government achieve the vision. Industry Day is scheduled for August 2nd at 9:30am at GSA Crystal Plaza 4 in Arlington. Each company is allowed two (2) attendees. Register here.
FDA released an RFI this week, seeking information on the availability of data mining tools that would help gather information on adverse reactions to vaccines and other drugs, and to collect better information about potential problems with drugs that FDA already has approved or that it may approve in the future. The move by FDA is yet another step toward leveraging data analytics and “Big Data” tools to make government more efficient and effective. View the RFI here.
On Wednesday, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition and the Internet, held a hearing on cloud computing with private sector witnesses from IBM and Rackspace. Among the key issues discussed were foreign governments leveraging to Patriot Act to keep US companies out of their cloud markets, and the need to balance security and privacy with consumer demands for openness. Witnesses also highlighted the superior benefits of cloud computing from a security standpoint, the importance of promoting innovation in the cloud and the need to enforce existing laws and regulations around IP theft. Read the hearing testimony.
In industry news, Dimension Data, a global services and solutions provider, this week unveiled Dimension Data OneCloud Partner Program, a global cloud partnership initiative that enables service providers, education institutions, government agencies and trading communities to rapidly bring new cloud services to market. According to information released by the company, the program expedites time to market by leveraging Dimension Data’s global Managed Cloud Platform™ (MCP), sales and marketing enablement services, as well as its Cloud Exchange, allowing an ecosystem of cloud service providers that are able to exchange cloud traffic. For more read here.
Michael Hettinger is VP for the Public Sector Innovation Group (PSIG) at SIIA. Follow his PSIG tweets at @SIIAPSIG.