The Tucson, Ariz., Fire Department is using the assistance of cloud technology to study the risks of certain cancers that firefighters can develop.

On Monday, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam issued Executive Order Nineteen, which directs the use of cloud technologies in the Commonwealth’s IT services. The executive order says Virginia must “keep pace with the marketplace” and that the order is designed to ensure the Commonwealth “aggressively incorporates the use of cloud technologies.” The order also stresses that cloud services must be deployed in a way that protects the privacy and security of Commonwealth and citizen data.  

The Howard County, Md., government streamlined its IT operations and cut its contract approval times to a fraction of what they were by building out workflows and bundling business processes on a cloud platform, said Howard County’s Deputy CIO Tom Yeatts.

Most government IT managers grasp the concept of automation, the use of technology to perform a process or procedure without human assistance. However, do they really understand the role of automation, and how it can be applied to accelerate delivery and management of IT resources and applications, especially in this era of multi-clouds?

About five years ago, many law enforcement officials wondered if the cloud was safe enough to hold their data. Now the FBI, the nation’s top law enforcement agency, is considering a move to a large-scale, commercial software cloud provider.

Collaboration and a willingness to learn new practices are the best ways to address cybersecurity concerns surrounding cloud computing, according to IT leaders from across the country. Greg Urban, chief operations officer of Maryland, said that a strong core of talent makes a big difference when exploring cloud capabilities.