MeriTalk caught up with Fran Trentley, the vice president for Global Security and Government Services at Akamai, during the 2016 Akamai Government Forum in Washington, D.C. […]

Catch up on some reading this weekend. Here are a few interesting items from MeriTalk.

As the 2016 election grows closer, IT pros are wondering when the Presidential candidates will tackle ongoing cyber security concerns and questions. CBS News reports, “Fifty-five percent of information security professionals believe cyber security should be a key issue in the 2016 election.” But is it?

Blue Coat’s Chief Operating Officer, Michael Fey, prompts five cyber questions each candidate should consider.

The White House’s proposed $3.1 billion IT Modernization Fund has but a 50-50 chance of finding its way into legislation this year….New role and a loophole at 18F….And an assessment of President Obama’s cybersecurity net.

In a guest commentary, Richard Beutel at Cyrrus Analytics says the Federal government needs the IT Modernization Fund to be used as seed corn to accelerate the agencies off of fossil computers.

The pressure is on for agencies to make the move to cloud – just 13 percent of Feds say they can deploy new systems as fast as required. However, agencies know cloud is here to stay. When it comes down to it, Feds are optimistic – 70 percent say increasing their cloud adoption pace will improve IT’s ability to innovate.

NASA landed its newest spacecraft—the Starship Incredulity—at the Rayburn House Office Building and NASA CIO Renee Wynn had the audacity to report that not a single investment in the agency’s planned $731 million in technology programs is high risk….Get ready for another round of hard-hitting congressional questioning, this time about the government’s addiction to legacy IT systems that continue to drain billions of dollars of taxpayer money away from new investments and modernization accounts.

Catch up on some reading this weekend. Here are a few interesting items from MeriTalk.

Imagine a world with connected citizens and community engagement empowered by innovative technology. This is a place with open dialogue between police and their citizens and between departments. This isn’t a utopian world; this type of connected community can be realized today. Through the use of open data powered by the AWS cloud, police departments can securely share and collaborate, enabling the future of policing.

FedRAMP is not accelerating the path to the cloud for Federal agencies as quickly as anticipated. But, recognizing potential saving opportunities and significant operational and efficiency benefits, Feds are ready to move. A research analyst at Deltek stated, “Fiscal 2016 will be a year when cloud spending picks up greater speed…”

It’s time to clear the most significant barrier to cloud adoption – security concerns.

Rusty Pickens from the Department of State spoke with MeriTalk at the 2016 Akamai Government Forum about the evolving technology components of the department’s digital diplomacy efforts.

To score a home run, you have to cover all the bases. But getting from start to finish is harder than it looks. For Federal agencies, hitting IT out of the park is even more difficult due to budget constraints, lengthy procurement processes, and staffing difficulties. And, as agencies continue to spend 79 percent of […] […]

Catch up on some reading this weekend. Here are a few interesting items from around the Web.

Congress next week plans to hold a hearing on how Federal agencies are doing in their adherence to the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act, known as FITARA, and the public will get its first look at the second round of agency grades.

Taxpayers and lawmakers will be angry when they learn that it took a small team of designers from the General Services Administration’s 18F an entire weekend to come up with a change to the digital service team’s logo.

There is concern that the U.S. Digital Service is filling its teams with techies who have been unable to divorce themselves from their former Silicon Valley mission of designing click-bait….Starting May 16, MeriTalk will begin publishing The Federal IT Papers—An Exclusive Insider Account of IT Decision-making Gone Wrong….And it’s no coincidence that GSA’s Superpublic Innovation Lab in San Francisco will be next door to the West Coast 18F.

Catch up on some reading this weekend. Here are a few interesting items from around the Web.

Remember that $7 billion Congress allocated to help establish a nationwide public safety broadband network, known as FirstNet? Well, when was the last time 50 states agreed on anything?…VA might be getting a new deputy assistant secretary for cybersecurity….If Congress eliminates polygraphs for security clearance holders, the result could be new business for the IT industry.

Today, just 13 percent of Feds say they can deploy new systems as quickly as required. And, it’s no secret agencies are being pushed to make the move to cloud – whether it’s data center consolidation initiatives, flexible performance to meet constituents’ on-demand requests, simply the desire to increase overall IT efficiency, or the demands of the current regulatory environment.

MeriTalk’s feature, a Q&A with prominent IT leaders, focuses this time on Virginia Chief Information Officer Nelson P. Moe.