Cloud-Driven Data Insights in Government

Technology

Cloud-Driven Data Insights in Government

Main Video Segment 1 Segment 2 Segment 3 The dramatic rise of cloud computing over the last five years across the government is clear. It went from something ma...

Federal News Radio Custom Media@WTOPWFEDcustom

December 4, 2014 9:16 am

5 min read

Main Video

Segment 1

Segment 2

Segment 3

The dramatic rise of cloud computing over the last five years across the government is clear. It went from something many agencies said they would look at, or pilot, to now an essential part of their IT infrastructure. Deltek, the market research firm, says in 2013 agencies spent more than $17 billion on cloud contracts, up from $721 million in 2011–that’s a compound annual growth rate of 187 percent. And infrastructure as a service is seeing a huge increase as part of that run to the cloud. Deltek found between 2009 and 2013, agencies spent $12 billion on IaaS platforms, most of which came from civilian agencies. Once agencies have that initial cloud infrastructure place, then they realized the role it can play in helping address the ever-growing big data problem. Deltek says in 2013 agencies spent more than a billion dollars on big data related products and services, and over the last five years that average has been just over $900 million. But it’s not just about the money agencies are spending through contracts. It’s about the value they are getting storing their data in a cloud and applying analytics to those tools. The Gartner Group says 85 percent of the Forbes 500 companies are unable to exploit big data for a competitive advantage. It wouldn’t be surprising if agencies are in the same boat. The government isn’t just sitting still waiting for the next great technology to address these decision-making challenges. The Defense Information Systems Agency, for example, launched in late 2013 a big-data in the cloud program called Acropolis. The goal is to capture unstructured data to help improve decision making capabilities…initially around cybersecurity, but eventually across all functional areas. GSA put the usaspending.gov platform in the cloud a few years ago to better harness the technology to deal with the big data challenge. The Recovery Board has been among the federal leaders in using the cloud to deal with data challenges. But even with these inroads, there are many challenges and unanswered questions. Why are companies and agencies treading water when it comes to taking advantage of big data? How can cloud technologies help? What about the cost to implement and manage these tools?

Moderator

Jason Miller, Federal News Radio

Jason Miller is an executive editor and reporter with Federal News Radio. As executive editor, Jason helps direct the news coverage of the station and works with reporters to ensure a broad range of coverage of federal technology, procurement, finance and human resource news.As a reporter, Jason focuses mainly on technology and procurement issues, including cybersecurity, e-government and acquisition policies and programs.

Panelists

Don Adcock, Acting Chief Information Officer, Department of Energy

Mr. Donald E. Adcock is the Acting Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the Department of Energy (DOE). As Acting CIO, he provides leadership, establishes policy, and maintains oversight of DOE’s annual $2 billion investment in information technology (IT), at more than 25 National Laboratories and Production Facilities, to enable urgent missions that span from open science to nuclear security. Mr. Adcock leads DOE’s key initiatives in open data, cloud computing and energy efficient IT strategies. In this role, Mr. Adcock also serves as the Department’s Senior Agency Official for Privacy and for Information Sharing and Safeguarding. In the role of the Acting CIO, Mr. Adcock will continue to be a leader in cybersecurity and be a key contributor to the Administration’s efforts in legislation, policy and technology research, development, and deployment. Mr. Adcock also currently serves as the DOE’s Deputy CIO. Mr. Adcock is co-sponsoring the American Energy Data Challenge to introduce the public to the open data and application programming interface resources offered by DOE, to spur the creation of new tools and insights for the American public, and to solicit public input on how data related to energy generation, distribution and use can serve our 21st century society and economy.

Greg Garcia, Executive Director, U.S. Army Information Technology Agency (ITA)

Gregory L. Garcia was selected for the Senior Executive Service in 2005. He assumed the position of the Executive Director of the U.S. Army Information Technology Agency (ITA) on June 4, 2012. As the Executive Director, Mr. Garcia is responsible for directing ITA in providing a full range of customer-focused, reliable, and secure information technology (IT) and communications capabilities. ITA’s services contribute to the mission success of the Headquarters Department of the Army, DoD activities in the Pentagon, and select activities in the National Capital Region.

Bajinder Paul, Chief Information Officer, Federal Trade Commission

Mr. Paul serves as the Chief Information Officer of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). As the CIO, Mr. Paul is responsible for leading all FTC information technology programs. Prior to this, Mr. Paul was appointed as the Deputy Associate Administrator of General Services Administration (GSA) in supporting its mission of Citizen Services and Innovative Technologies. Mr. Paul was responsible for leading modernization strategies that leverage innovation and cloud computing in implementing agile and on-demand IT infrastructure in support of government wide initiatives.

Derek Strausbaugh, Senior Solutions Specialist- Application Platform, Microsoft Federal

Derek Strausbaugh is a Sr. Solutions Specialist for Microsoft Federal – based out of Alexandria, Virginia. In his role, Derek provides technical pre-sales support for Microsoft’s data and cloud platforms across Microsoft’s Joint Defense, Air Force and Department of Navy businesses. Derek works with customers to extract maximum value from their investments in Microsoft technology by focusing on the deployment of solutions that break down operational barriers in support of the warfighter.