Citizen Service for the Most Vulnerable

Citizen experience is a key priority across government. Agencies are taking a new look at citizens as customers and simplifying how they deliver services. At no time is that simplification more important than at times of crisis. The government provides critical support to citizens impacted by natural disasters, public health emergencies, terrorism, and economic insecurity. There are some incredible examples of how government is applying technology to meet the needs of vulnerable populations.

Supporting Homeless Populations

Austin, TX is using the Homeless Emergency Management (HEM) Tracking and Prioritization Tool as part of its larger efforts to understand and support the city's homeless population. Field staff use the tool to capture information about homeless encampments that includes factors related to health, safety, and impacts on infrastructure, property, and environmental health. This data is collated into a score that helps prioritize areas for intervention.

Before this tool, departments across the city were collecting different information and had no uniform way to evaluate it. The HEM Tool applies a citywide lens to encampment response, enabling prioritization and resource deployment to those that present the biggest risks, supports consistent encampment data capture, and improves citywide understanding of needs, risk and trends. Continue reading

Cloud Is No Longer the Exception, but the Rule

Remote work, necessitated by the pandemic, accelerated many agencies' move to cloud computing. With remote and dispersed teams here to stay, cloud is a critical, if not primary, infrastructure for a number of organizations. With this wide reliance on cloud, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has been releasing Trusted Internet Connections 3.0 Use Cases, which give federal agencies guidance on applying network and multi-boundary security for remote users.

Similarly, the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) recently combined its Cloud Computing Program Office (CCPO) with its services directorate and ecosystem. This move, creating the Hosting and Compute Center (HaCC), recognizes the long-term reality of cloud and the role it plays in delivering services and powering everyday work for the agency. The HaCC will be "responsible for providing the warfighter with critical hosting and compute functions using modern data center and cloud capabilities." This functionality supports a number of Defense Department initiatives including Joint All Domain Command and Control. Continue reading

Security in the “New Normal”

With telework expected to stay long after the pandemic ebbs, government agencies are looking to shore up the remote work solutions they put in place to ensure on premise security measures extend to the dispersed workforce. Multi-cloud environments are the reality for almost every agency. The many applications needed for the diverse functions of an organization require multiple cloud solutions to provide the specific support needed.

A report from Meritalk, Multi-Cloud Defense: Redefining the Cyber Playbook, found that 83 percent of respondents are increasing multi-cloud adoption to support telework and mission needs related to COVID-19. However, 42 percent said their cyber strategies cannot keep up. One part of the challenge is creating a solution that can be applied to the wide variety of endpoint devices and meeting enterprise security requirements.

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Predictions Check-in: Big Data

In our predictions article, we highlighted Big Data as a hot topic for 2015. Looks like we were not the only ones pinpointing this topic as critical for the IT community. It has made a number of 2015 trends/predictions lists. One article though jumped out at us. An Information Week article looking at Big Data trends specifically called out the proliferation of education opportunities as a key trend in late 2014 and moving into 2015.[Tweet "Big Data education opportunities still a key trend"]

On our site alone we have 60+ upcoming events that are Big Data specific. As the Information Week article points out, many of these are offered by vendors looking to fill the void of big data expertise and academics. But it seems the lack of academic study of Big Data is being addressed in a number of online courses and degree programs.  Continue reading

Big Interest in Big Data

A search of our event database for "Big Data" pulls up 68 upcoming events -- 36 in-person events, 32 webcasts and 426 past events. So what's the big deal about Big Data?

Big Data is really just a marketing phrase that means a collection of all of the data points that live within an organization's IT system. Email addresses, financial data, survey data, content, social media statistics all stored together are big....big data. It is clear everyone has big data, what organizations need to focus on (and what most of the events on GovEvents address) is how do you use it to make better decisions?

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