Amazon gets FedRAMP seal of approval: Earlier this week, Amazon Web Services (AWS) became the third cloud service provider and the second large company to receive its FedRAMP certification. AWS, unlike the previous two companies to receive FedRAMP certification did so by working through an existing ATO with the Department of Health and Human Services, whereas the others went via the GSA FedRAMP and JAB approval process. The certification is a step in the right direction for the program and shows there’s more than one way to get through the FedRAMP process. Read more here from FCW.
Rep. Issa introduces, committee passes DATA Act: Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has introduced a revised version of his DATA Act. The bill, which stalled in the Senate in the last Congress in part because of the cost to implement, sets standards for the publication of federal spending data on www.USASpending.gov. The bill was released in draft form last week, introduced on May 21st and passed unanimously by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on May 22nd. FCW has the recap.
Changes at OMB to impact federal IT: The last few weeks have brought a lot of change to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) with OMB Controller Danny Werfel being appointing Acting IRS Commissioner and Federal CIO Steve VanRoekel moving up to be Acting Deputy Director for Management while maintaining his CIO title. VanRoekel replaces Jeff Zients who resigned earlier this month. Read more from Federal News Radio.
SIIA Releases White Paper on Data Driven Analytics: On Monday, SIIA released a white paper that provides an in-depth look at the benefits and challenges of data-driven innovation along with a detailed public policy roadmap. SIIA crafted the white paper to provide guidance to help policymakers understand and enable the economic and social value of data-driven innovation. Recognizing that data collection and use is at crossroads, and decisions by policymakers could have an enormous impact on American innovation, jobs and economic growth, SIIA believes it is essential for policymakers to recognize that data-driven innovation presents an economic growth engine that is revolutionizing our lives and will create 1.9 million U.S. jobs by 2015. At the same time, we have to address the very legitimate questions about the storage and use of data without strict regulation that stifles economic opportunity. With this paper, SIIA has taken a comprehensive look at the issue – providing significant analysis of where the opportunities lie with data and what needs to be done to unlock its full potential. The full white paper is available here.
SIIA Responds to Cybersecurity RFI: Earlier this week SIIA submitted comments in response to Executive Order 13636 – Improving Critical Infrastructure Protection, issued on February 12, 2013. The RFI and SIIA’s comments specifically address proposed implementation of Section 8(e) of the Executive Order. While SIIA supports the overall effort to improve the cybersecurity posture of the federal government, we have concerns that this provision has the potential to negatively impact the federal acquisition landscape by requiring additional cybersecurity measures beyond what is currently required by FISMA and the FAR.
Michael Hettinger is VP for the Public Sector Innovation Group (PSIG) at SIIA. Follow his PSIG tweets at @SIIAPSIG. Sign up for the Public Sector Innovation Roundup email newsletter for weekly updates.