The U.S. Chief Information Officer said the government wanted to put data such as health-care pricing information on the Web. Private companies like Microsoft, Google and Amazon are offering databases and programs through Web servers, helping users save on local storage.
By adopting the same strategy, US government can help save on U.S. storage needs and cut expenses. The government had spent over $500 billion in the past decade on data centers and other technology initiatives. This has led to duplication of stored data and applications, to huge increase in costs and to high consumption of energy.
The CIO of U.S. government is advocating cloud computing in government. Cloud refers to the Internet, and cloud computing involves moving data and applications from local user servers to Web servers managed by Web service providers. Google and Microsoft have introduced government-focused clouds to tap the potential market.
If the government embraces cloud computing it could signal that this option is a secure option, and more businesses could opt for the solution. Global spending on cloud computing is expected to top $44 billion in 2013, according to IDC.
Cloud computing can also help government employees to collaborate better and be more productive, and lead to dramatically reduced government costs.
Read about the initiatives at BusinessWeek.
Tags: cloud computing, information technology, web applications, web storage
