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NASA CIO Linda Cureton Peers into her 2013 Tech Crystal Ball

Today, technology is a critical component to transform and modernize government to truly create a 21st century government. For our year-end report, the GovLoop team set out to explore what technology trends shaped 2012 to help agencies meet organizational goals. The report also includes best practices, case studies, and identifies which trends will shape government technology in 2013. This post will highlight one of those core trends, cloud computing.

Story Highlights

  • GovLoop Releases New Report on government technology in 2012
  • Report includes interviews with government thought leaders, insights from 250 GovLoop members, case studies and best practices
  • This story reviews cloud computing as a core trend for government in 2012

The report below includes a survey from 250 members of the GovLoop community, and interviews with Bernie Mauzer, Chief Information Officer, Department of the Interior, Jim Ropelewski, Chief Procurement Officer, Department of Education, Linda Cureton, Chief Information Officer, NASA and Malcolm Jackson, Chief Information Officer, Environmental Protection Agency. Be sure to check out the entire report below and related resources on the guide landing page.

Expert Insights: Linda Cureton, NASA CIO

Technologist Profile: Linda Cureton provides the requisite leadership to transform the management of information technology (IT) capabilities and services to support and enable NASA’s mission. She ensures that the Agency’s information resource management (IRM) strategy is in alignment with NASA’s vision, mission, and strategic goals.

Chris Dorobek sat down for our first ever Google Plus Hangout interview with Linda Cureton where they discussed the rise of cloud computing/.

View the Guide Above Or Click Download Now.


Into the Cloud In 2012

“The thing everyone was looking at in 2012 was cloud computing. We are all responding to the OMB mandate of cloud first. That coupled with the maturity of cloud products in the commercial space made cloud pretty exciting. I look forward to when the hype goes away and we stop looking at cloud as this cool one off thing and make it become the normal operating procedure. I think we started to enter that in 2012. We are getting beyond the hype. Commercial products are now giving offerings that are very sensible and economical. So we’re not making decisions about cloud or not cloud, we are looking at service offerings for our agency and our environment,” said Cureton.

Cloud Creates Flexibility

“The flexible, scaleable, elasticity of the cloud is nothing to sneeze about. As commercial providers make that secure and affordable and easy to provision that puts it within very accessible reach for agencies. Security concerns in the cloud are more emotional than real at this point,” said Cureton.

Big in 2013

“In 2013 we will see more software as a service headed to the cloud. Lots of interest in apps stores in the cloud because it offers that type of capability now. NASA is looking at our website and trying to take advantage of the platform as a service layer,” said Cureton.

  • Mobile and BYOD will become how the government does business. CIOs will stop looking at endpoint devices but looking at data applicants and capabilities to deliver more reliable internet technology.
  • At this point a lot of people do BYOD anyway so in 2013 we want to do it in a better more managed way.
  • We’ve been dealing with big data for decades. But now with with capabilities of the cloud, big data has become a big deal.

Biggest Challenge

“With budget cuts we have to get over the IT strategies that are based on hope. We “hope: we can get a big influx of money to x,y and z. We’ll that’s just not going to happen anymore. We have to change our mindset. CIOs need to become brokers of services and have a business savvy,” said Cureton.

The GovLoop Guide: Government Technology Year in Review

Agile Government Cloud Technology Turning Data into Power Expansion of Mobility Social Government

This page is brought to you by the GovLoop Technology Solutions Council. The mission of this council is to provide you with information and resources to help improve government. Visit the GovLoop Technology Solutions Council to learn more.

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