big data

The Department of Veterans Affairs recently committed to a continued partnership with Microsoft Corp. to use emerging tools and technologies to harness the power of big data and drive efficiency, mobility and better service.

Spanning from the desktop to the data center and mobile devices, the renewed agreement will allow the VA to analyze big data the department has been unable to evaluate in the past. It also means continued investment in a groundbreaking data warehousing/big data analytics initiative. Keep reading →

/ Published August 16, 2012 at 12:00 PM

Technology

Where Vendor’s Fit In The Government’s Cloud Mandate

By Anthony Robbins

Cloud computing isn’t just about technology – it is about transformation, leadership and change. When it comes to government IT, cloud is typically 80% of the discussion, but only 20% of the budget.

With the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) 18-month “Cloud First” deadline passing in June and the federal government hoping to accredit three cloud service providers under FedRAMP by the end of 2012, cloud computing is at the forefront of government IT. Keep reading →

/ Published August 7, 2012 at 1:30 PM

Innovation

Is There A Business Case For Open Government Data?

By Brand Niemann

After six days of the 2012 International Open Government Data Conference, which concluded last week, I and others are asking ourselves this question: Is there a business case for open government data?

Clearly, more needs to be done to spread what is working with open government data.

But when it comes to making a business case for open government data, there are at least three success models – or examples I am aware of:

Statistical agencies that get regular funding because it is critical to governmental decisions such as establishing congressional districts;
Intelligence agencies and the larger intelligence community that received a big budget increase for big data because of the need to find more needles in bigger haystacks;
Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, and other big data users of online data that learned they needed a data science team with an information platform to grow their businesses.

But the question remains, what business value can make open government data fundable and sustainable like the above three? Keep reading →

/ Published July 17, 2012 at 11:31 AM

Technology

Putting The 2012 IOGDC Data To Work

By Brand Niemann

Last week’s International Open Government Data Conference offered a lot of worthy ideas and insights. Among them was the Best of the Lightning Talks by Tariq Khokhar, World Bank Open Data Evangelist, and Jeanne Holm, Data.gov Evangelist, which summarized 29 different presentations that made virtually in the initial days of the conference.

I have been compiling and auditing the presentations and materials presented throughout the conference and found, however, some real deficiencies that suggest things presented are not as advertised. For instance: Keep reading →

/ Published July 16, 2012 at 11:00 AM

Citizen Services

Officials Explore New Ways To Mine Global Government Data

By Wyatt Kash

Government officials and information specialists from more than 50 countries wrapped up a week long conference in Washington this week to try to answer a simple question: How to unlock the value of government data to improve the lives citizens in developed as well as less developed nations.

The answer, it turns out, is a lot more complex. Keep reading →

/ Published July 13, 2012 at 4:30 PM

Management

Data Act Could Usher In Era Of Real Transparency In Government

By Dan Verton

A coalition of technology companies on Tuesday launched a major lobbying effort aimed at showing members of Congress that data transparency in federal spending is not only possible, but could be achieved in short order using standard markup languages and electronic identifiers that the commercial world has been leveraging for years.

But Congress must first pass into law the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act, or Data Act, before the deployment of such industry standard technologies could put an end to fraud, waste and abuse in federal spending by making detailed information about where and how every tax dollar is being spent. Keep reading →

/ Published July 11, 2012 at 3:25 PM

Technology

Big Data For The Public Good

By Dr. David McQueeney and Dr. Steven E. Koonin

Lately it seems that everyone is talking about “big data,” and for good reason – the potential to gain greater insight into the way decisions are made has implications throughout businesses, governments and societies the world over. Capitol Hill just took a deep dive into the big data pool, to look at what this relatively new concept really means and how we can leverage it to address the greatest challenges of our day.

Last week, IBM joined government leaders on Capitol Hill to discuss how we can apply new technologies – called analytics – to big data so that we make critical decisions to improve and better the lives of the citizens we serve. Keep reading →

/ Published July 6, 2012 at 10:01 AM

Innovation

Federal Lab, IBM Open Door To High Speed Computing For Big Data Users

By Wyatt Kash

In a sign that the worlds of big data and government-owned high performance computing centers are beginning to converge, the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and IBM announced that they are joining forces to help boost the competitiveness of U.S. industries in the global economy.

The announcement drew the attention and praise of Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) during a Capitol Hill briefing June 27, during which Feinstein stressed the growing importance of high performance computing and data analytics in the U.S. Keep reading →

/ Published June 28, 2012 at 4:02 PM