Federal CIO promotes cloud computing

Thursday, August 05, 2010

In several recent blog posts, White House CIO Vivek Kundra explained how the government can gain from using cloud computing, one of the Obama administration's prioritized means to help modernize federal IT deployments.

Government agencies are trying to streamline operations and better engage with citizens by moving in-house software to the cloud. One of the agencies' measures was the creation of a new online database from the Social Security Administration with the answers to more than 1,000 frequently asked questions. Citizens can inquire about information regarding social security numbers, benefits, field offices and more. In 2009, the SSA provided 34 million answers via the database, which takes considerably less time than traditional staff responses.

The Federal Labor Relations Authority has also embraced cloud computing and is using it for better case management. Its electronic case-management tracking system enables citizens to file cases and obtain documents electronically, as well as track the case-handling procedure. According to Kundra, the new system, which uses Intuit's Quickbase, will reduce the FLRA's cost by nearly $600,000 over five years.

Kundra relayed on his blog that future acquisitions will include a more up-to-date emailing system with instant messaging features as well as a better e-mail archiving system to meet e-discovery requirements.