A recent study concluded that government agencies are deploying mixed-IT environments - whether on-prem, public cloud, CSPs, MSPs, edge, colocation - at a high rate and that hybrid multicloud is projected to grow almost 5 times over the next three years. Government agencies are rethinking their cloud strategies to meet evolving priorities and mandates and how to address this complexity, especially in the face of IT staffing and skills shortage...

When the log4j vulnerability was first identified in late 2021, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency responded very rapidly, including giving all federal agencies less than a week to identify and patch all their affected systems, and coordinating a nationwide response to encourage the private sector to do the same. But the vulnerability is likely to dog agencies and the private sector alike for years. There are at least two rea...

Cyber attacks are on the increase across all levels of government – and state and local governments are often targeted because they have fewer resources for security. For instance, an October 2022 survey found that more than half of state and local governments faced ransomware attacks in 2021, and just one in five organizations successfully stopped the attack. Strengthening the security and resilience of these agencies’ systems req...

The universe of artificial intelligence applications is going through its own Big Bang right now. As artificial intelligence (AI) applications proliferate across the internet ecosystem, other changes are being triggered, from the commitment to R&D funding to workforce development to new initiatives in higher education. As public awareness grows of AI’s potential and how it may affect them, there still are issues to be resolved. For i...

Cyber attacks are on the increase across all levels of government – and state and local governments are often targeted because they have fewer resources for security. For instance, an October 2022 survey found that more than half of state and local governments faced ransomware attacks in 2021, and just one in five organizations successfully stopped the attack. Strengthening the security and resilience of these agencies’ systems req...

The entire concept of zero trust can be boiled down to four words – never trust, always verify. But short, simple statements usually have a lot of moving parts to make them reality. When the Office of Management and Budget issued its Federal Zero Trust Strategy in January 2022, it set the end of Fiscal Year 2024 – September 30, 2024 – as the completion date for a host of cybersecurity standards and objectives to be completed...

The state of Colorado is undertaking a top-to-bottom modernization of its IT infrastructure, aimed at achieving what the Governor’s Office of Information Technology describes as four "wildly important goals." Four major initiatives (tech transformation, broadband access, digital government services, and enhanced employee engagement) are intended to deliver more and better digital services that improve residents’ lives and increase...

One of the biggest social issues the U.S. faces today is how to achieve health equity, where everyone has a fair and just opportunity to reach and maintain their best level of personal health. The challenges are many, systemic, and interconnected – economic, institutional, educational, and social barriers prevent many with the greatest needs from being able to access the care and information they require. Over the past decades there have...

The long-term effects of the pandemic continue to push agencies to accelerate IT modernization and move from owning their own on-site data centers to hybrid and multi-cloud architectures. The pandemic spurred greater customer demand for digital services, while employees adapted quickly to working from home. These trends, in turn, heightened the stakes for cybersecurity that protects the endpoints and strengthens data security – part of t...

The cyber threat landscape is constantly changing. New threats are always emerging, as are new bad actors, whether pursuing criminal activities or working on behalf of nation-states hostile to U.S. interests. The Pentagon already is moving quickly to implement its Zero Trust strategy, and sees it as a foundational part of IT modernization and digital transformation, whether on a battlefield or in essential functions such as logistics. The DoD...