Journal 4, September 20th

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-10353479-52.html?tag=mncol

Recently the Obama administration announced a long term plan to implement cloud computing into government policy in an attempt to cut costs and reduce the government's environmental impact. The plan aims to influence current infrastructure while reducing information technology costs including expensive data centers. Of the $76 billion information technology budget $19 billion is spent on infrastructure alone and with the current policy energy consumption has doubled from 200 to 2006. Now the government plans to use existing infrastructure as efficiently as possible while keeping security considerations in mind. For example for the update of USA.gov site took only one day implementing cloud computing instead of six months and saved nearly $2 million. Although the specifics of the new programs are still vague projects like the new Apps.gov show potential for the value of these policies. With these new services government agencies can access what they need without any additional resources spent in information technology. In addition to providing services easily accessible services to government agencies the cloud computing initiative will be implemented in budgeting. This effort will start slow but is planned to be fully implemented within the next two years. Later cloud computing is planned to become a part of policy planning and system architecture. The government is obviously taking the private market's lead and finally starting to reap the benefits of modern technology. An example of this is the federal financial aid form, FAFSA. After being streamlined with the use of technology the form can now be completed online with many fields already filled in based on previously provided information.

This new initiative is an excellent way to save money while using modern technology to make the government operate more efficiently. With programs of this nature the government will be better equipped to tend to the wants and needs of its citizens. These new policies are a step in the right direction that everyone can agree on and almost everyone can take advantage of to make their dealings with government all the more smoother. Hopefully this trend of using the latest technology to enhance government services will continue so that citizens can be assured that their taxes are being put to good use.