Sequestration’s Impact on Federal IT: With sequestration now just hours away, Jason Miller from Federal News Radio interviewed Federal CIO Steven VanRoekel on the potential impact of sequestration on federal IT. The long and short of it is that we know federal IT will be impacted, but unlike the programs themselves where they are expected to take an across the board cut, IT by its nature is woven into the fabric of these programs, not a program itself, so its impact is uncertain. This according to the interview is creating a confidence problem for IT. New investments will also be put on hold. Read the article and listen to the interview from Federal News Radio here.

Sequestration’s Impact Going Forward: In addition to the automatic cuts associated with the sequester that occur March 1st at 11:59pm, there is another looming funding crisis in the federal government – the expiring Continuing Resolution for FY 2013. The CR officially expires on March 27th so Congressional leaders will have to find a way to address this situation as well. Word from Capitol Hill this week is that the House Appropriations Committee is preparing a rest of the year Continuing Resolution at post-sequester levels, meaning much of the spending included in this bill would be rolled back to pre-2008 levels, the last year of the George W. Bush Administration. GovExec has more.

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.

As today’s hearing clearly showed, there is a great deal at stake in this debate, and a thoughtful and methodical approach is needed. An estimated $20 billion of the federal government’s $80 billion IT budget could be spent on cloud computing and related innovative IT services. With that, it is essential that the government develop new and innovative ways to acquire these services, reducing time to market and maximizing value.

While SIIA is strongly supportive of the objective of legislation to reform federal IT acquisition, we have concerns with several provisions as proposed in the discussion draft. We have shared our concerns with Chairman Issa and his staff and hope that these concerns will be addressed in the revised bill that the Chairman announced today will be “published” prior to the Congressional Spring Recess. We look forward to continuing to work with Chairman Issa and members of the Committee to address these issues and help advance effective, bipartisan legislation to help the Federal government continue to keep pace with IT innovation.

Michael Hettinger is VP for the Public Sector Innovation Group (PSIG) at SIIA. Follow his PSIG tweets at @SIIAPSIG.

Congress to Hold Hearing on IT Acquisition Reform: The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has scheduled a full committee hearing for next week to dig deeper into Chairman Issa’s draft IT acquisition reform bill known as FITARA. The hearing is currently scheduled for 9:30am on February 27th. Witnesses have not been publicly announced but the notice of the hearing can be accessed here

Cloud Computing Driving New Generation of Startups: According to a recent survey of 1300 executives in the US and UK conducted by Rackspace, cloud computing is driving more than cost reduction and innovation. The report highlights that 62 percent of survey respondents believe that cloud computing is responsible for the recent boom in entrepreneurs and startups with 25 percent strongly agreeing with that idea. Forbes has the full report.

Sequestration Looms Large with DC Area to Take Big Hit: According to figures released earlier this week, the looming sequester may have a big financial impact on the Defense Department and other federal agencies, as they will likely be forced to shorten the work week, reduce services or temporarily lay off employees. DC, Maryland and Virginia with a large population of federal employees and contractors, along with California are expected to take the biggest hit. DC/MD/VA may face an estimated DOD payroll cut impact of $1.2B. Federal News Radio has a story with a link to the Pentagon’s payroll numbers

Texas Moves to the Cloud: States continue to make progress moving applications into the cloud, with Texas being the latest to make headlines by announcing this week that they will move more than 100,000 state employees to Microsoft’s Office 365 Cloud. The contract will provide the state compliance with the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) and Federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) security standards, and is estimated to save the state some 75% over prior years. Government Technology has a full report.

Michael Hettinger is VP for the Public Sector Innovation Group (PSIG) at SIIA. Follow his PSIG tweets at @SIIAPSIG.

FedRAMP Grants Second Provisional ATO: Speaking of FedRAMP, the program granted its second provisional authority to operate earlier this month, to CGI Federal. CGI joins Autonomic Resources as the only two companies who have made it through the program to date. Recent reports from the Federal CIO and others note that there are some 75 or 80 companies in the pipeline to receive FedRAMP approval while GSA’s Kathy Conrad told the Cloud/GOV audience that as many as half of those who have applied might not be able to meet the program’s rigorous security baseline. We will continue to track this issue as progress is made and Federal Times has a short blog on the CGI approval.

SOTU highlights Cybersecurity: President Obama called-out cybersecurity as a priority in his State of the Union Address on Tuesday, announcing the release of the much anticipated Executive Order (EO) on cybersecurity. The EO is focused specifically on critical infrastructure protection, calling for a NIST-led multistakeholder process to identify existing consensus standards, practices and procedures that can become the basis of a voluntary “Cybersecurity Framework.” Despite the focus on critical infrastructure protection, Administration officials have clearly expressed their desire for the Framework to be adopted broadly after its completion in approximately one year, with hopes that it will be embraced beyond critical infrastructure sectors.

Cloud Adoption on the Rise: According to a recent study conducted by CDW-G of more than 1,200 IT personnel across six sectors, cloud adoption is on the rise. The report seems to track the increase in cloud use personally to an increase in cloud adoption in the workplace, essentially concluding that as people get more comfortable with cloud at home, they want that to carry-over to their place of business. Government Technology has a story with a link to the CDW-G survey.

Michael Hettinger is VP for the Public Sector Innovation Group (PSIG) at SIIA. Follow his PSIG tweets at @SIIAPSIG.

USPS moves ahead with cloud ID management program: The US Postal Service continues to solicit proposals for a cloud-based ID credentialing hub pilot project. The program seeks a software-as-a-service solution that would provide access to non-government providers of ID credentials who have been approved under the Federal Identity, Credential, and Access Management (FICAM) initiative. Responses are due February 11th. GCN has more.

OFPP to push contractor past performance reviews: The Office of Federal Procurement Policy announced an aggressive effort to ensure that all contractor past performance information is entered into the Past Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS), aiming for 100 percent compliance by 2015. The effort comes on the heels of a recent report from DOD that showed only 67.5 percent of required contractor reviews at DOD were added to the system. By making this push OFPP hopes to achieve better outcomes for taxpayers by ensuring that contracting officers better understand specific contractor performance. Read more.

Dell announces Project Ophelia cloud key: This week Dell announced what they are calling a cloud key, which looks to me like an operating system in a flash drive. The idea is to allow you to carry your desktop functionality with you and plug into any device with an HDMI jack, allowing you access to what is now only available on your desktop or laptop. GCN asks whether this is the future of remote computing.

Michael Hettinger is VP for the Public Sector Innovation Group (PSIG) at SIIA. Follow his PSIG tweets at @SIIAPSIG.

Technology replacing humans? The advance of technology, specifically related to cloud computing and the collection of data is again bringing up the age old argument of people vs. machines. As technology advances, we are seeing more and more tasks that were once done by people being done by machines, everything from reading your electric meter to potentially driving your car. As government’s look to do more with less, technology is a driving force behind creating efficiency. But how do we achieve the right balance? Omaha.com has a look at how data, cloud and smarter machines are reshaping the economy.

States looking at enterprise IT, cloud and other innovative solutions: According to recent report from our friends at NASCIO, state CIOs are worried about interoperability, IT funding and public safety broadband as they enter into 2013. They are calling on the federal government to modernize the regulations and funding streams for IT and asking agencies to modernize how they work with states to deliver key services such as Medicaid, Medicare and Homeland Security. States, like the federal government, are also turning to innovative solutions like cloud, virtualization and shared services to help solve budget and IT problems. Read the full story at Government Health IT.

DHS is 10 Years Old: It seems like yesterday but DHS is 10 years old this week. The original legislation creating the Department was passed by Congress in November of 2002 and the Department was officially stood up in January of 2003. The 22 component agencies came aboard on March 1, 2003. Former Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen shares his thoughts on how far DHS has come and how much more there is to do.

Michael Hettinger is VP for the Public Sector Innovation Group (PSIG) at SIIA. Follow his PSIG tweets at @SIIAPSIG.

This year’s event will feature discussions from a diverse group of influential government IT advisors, leading software executives and policymakers, including:

• Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), Chairman, Committee on Government Oversight and Reform, U.S. House of Representatives
• David DeVries, Deputy CIO, Information Enterprise, U.S. Department of Defense
• Dawn Leaf, Deputy Chief Information Officer, United States Department of Labor
• Peter Tseronis, Chief Technology Officer, U.S. Department of Energy

The conference will also gather a panel of government CIOs to discuss their move to the cloud and provide advice for other federal executives with organizational concerns. Other presentations will address emerging FedRAMP-related issues, the convergence of the cloud and “big data” analytics as well as a comprehensive look at federal policy changes that could impact cloud computing in 2013. Additionally, vendors representing all segments of the public sector will highlight the latest innovations in cloud-based government IT.

For a complete schedule of events, visit http://www.siia.net/cloudgov/2013/

Michael Hettinger is VP for the Public Sector Innovation Group (PSIG) at SIIA. Follow his PSIG tweets at @SIIAPSIG.

This year’s theme is “Big Data. Bigger Opportunities.”

As part of Data Innovation Day, ITIF will host panel discussions in DC on how government agencies are using data to make government work more effectively and efficiently, as well as highlighting interesting examples of how data innovation is transforming different sectors of the economy. DMA will also host a virtual event to celebrate data-driven marketing innovation – and to engage data-driven marketers in the growing data debate that is taking shape in Washington and around the world. For more information, visit the Data Innovation Day schedule of events.

Emerging technologies and new social realities are transforming the information industry and global communication. The theme of creative disruption will drive all keynote presentations at the 2013 Information Industry Summit, where the following industry leaders will discuss breakthrough innovation opportunities:

• George Colony – Chairman and CEO, Forrester Research, Inc.

“Technology Thunderstorms”

Colony is one of the most influential thought leaders in the world of business and technology – a trusted advisor to the leaders of global companies such as Best Buy, Conde Nast and Cisco. Colony will prepare attendees to thrive amid “technology thunderstorms” – social, business and demographic changes fueled by emerging technologies – and will identify four upcoming technology thunderstorms that will change the information industry.

• Gifford Booth – Co-founder and Partner, The TAI Group

“Fostering Disruptive Drivers of Innovation”

Booth has spent the past 25 years guiding business leaders to create effective teams in both large organizations and complex family businesses. He will discuss how executives can be empowered to drive innovation and creativity for breakthrough products and performance.

• Glenn Goldberg – President, Information and Media Services, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

“Expanding Opportunity”

McGraw-Hill has undergone a complete transformation. In 2011, the company announced its intention to separate into two companies: McGraw-Hill Financial and McGraw-Hill Education. Goldberg will discuss the challenges and opportunities in capturing the market to expand McGraw Hill’s businesses.

• Brewster Kahle – Director & Co-Founder, Internet Archive

“Universal Access to All Knowledge”

A passionate advocate for public Internet access, Brewster Kahle has focused his career on making information free and accessible through digital means. Now, he says, we can make all the published works of humankind accessible to everyone, no matter where they are in the world. What will it take to reinvent the concept of libraries and create this ground-breaking resource for open society?

• Nicholas Thompson – Editor, NewYorker.com

“Who Wins: the Micro-Tweet or the Narrative?”

Thompson is editor in chief of newyorker.com, and oversees the magazine’s tablet and iPhone publishing. In addition, he is a cofounder of The Atavist, a software startup that has designed a platform for multimedia publishing. Thompson will discuss the future of communication: will communication keep getting more and more concise, or is there an increasing role for long stories and big ideas? Who shall win: the micro-tweet or the narrative?

Other highlights of the Summit include the Content CODiE Awards Dinner, which honors the year’s best products, and the Previews program, which introduces emerging content and content-technology companies set to revolutionize the industry.

Kathy Greenler Sexton is Vice President and General Manager of the SIIA Content Division. Contact Kathy at kgsexton@siia.net.

We’ll also have a great panel on FedRAMP which includes Katie Lewin from GSA and Tom McAndrew from Coalfire, a GSA certified 3PAO. The idea behind this panel is the go inside the program to understand how it works and what businesses need to be prepared for when they get into the process. We’ve also got a great session on the collision of cloud computing and big data, featuring Shawn Kingsberry from the RAT Board and Ashit Talukder from NIST, two of the government leaders in these areas. New content and speakers are being added every day so I expect a great event. We will have a couple of high profile keynote speakers to announce in the coming weeks.Check it out here.

FedRAMP Rollout Continues: Speaking of FedRAMP, we learned a little more about what GSA expects from the FedRAMP program in 2013. According to this article in FCW GSA expects 10 to 15 cloud service providers to be accredited through the program in 2013 and twice that number in 2014 when FedRAMP becomes mandatory. Some readers of this blog may recall that back in March 2012 when GSA initially spoke of FedRAMP they said they hoped they could get as many as 6 to 20 CSPs through the program in 2012. At the rate technology moves these days, having fewer than 50 approved CSPs by the end of 2014 may not do much to speed the government’s migration to cloud computing as agencies will have to look to other contract vehicles to procure what they need. From our end of things, we will continue to push GSA to move companies quickly through the FedRAMP process so that all CSPs can compete on equal footing.

NIST Cloud and Big Data Workshop: This week NIST held its latest meeting in its workshop series on cloud computing and data analytics, this time bringing together two of the hottest topics in federal IT. The three day discussion at NIST’s Gaithersburg, Maryland headquarters featured a keynote by Federal CIO Steve Van Roekel and a host of panel discussions about how cloud and data work together to make government more effective. FedNewsRadio has a recap.

Cloud and Data Drive State and Local IT Modernization: We hear over and over again that data and cloud hold as much if not more promise for efficiency in state and local governments as they do in the federal government. No place is this more evident than in the state of Oregon, where the Oregon Records Management Solution will provide state, city and county government officials with acces to records in a timely, efficient and uniform manner, while saving money and reducing risk. FCW has the full story.

Postal Service Plans for Cloud Computing Credential Exchange Pilot: According to a posting on FedBizOps, the US Postal Service is moving ahead with a one-year cloud credential exchange program pilot. The USPS intends to award a one-year contract for a software-as-a-service solution that will meet the federal government’s need to provide a consistent approach to authentication for citizens seeking online access to individualized federal agency systems and applications. See the full opportunity at FBO.

Michael Hettinger is VP for the Public Sector Innovation Group (PSIG) at SIIA. Follow his PSIG tweets at @SIIAPSIG.