Latest News from Government IT

Cloud is Changing the Economics of Business

Tue, 21 May 2013 04:00:00 EDT

The economics of business are radically changing due to the way in which software and services are being delivered thanks to cloud computing. In his session at 12th Cloud Expo | Cloud Expo New York [10-13 June, 2013], Mike Kavis will cover six reasons for the disruption.

How Private Cloud Works in Real Life: Deployment Examples

Sun, 19 May 2013 16:00:00 EDT

Companies around the world are moving into on-premise private cloud environments. Many connect their private cloud to their public cloud service providers. In his session at 12th Cloud Expo | Cloud Expo New York [June 10-13], Brian Patrick Donaghy will talk about examples of what worked, what failed and why we should think about this evolution.

Building the Case for a Cloud-Based Government

Thu, 16 May 2013 23:00:00 EDT

The US Government, as well as governments around the world, is looking to invest heavily in Cloud Computing. The cloud promises a lot of efficiencies and cost savings but it also presents a new revolutionary way to approach citizen services. This session offers insight into how Cloud Computing coupled with other technical advancements in mobility and security are changing government IT organizations. It also provides general guidance and best practices for developing practical and pragmatic cloud strategies.

Cloud Computing and DoD

Wed, 15 May 2013 03:00:00 EDT

By Bob Gourley

You don’t have to convince government IT leaders of the smart new business models, efficiencies and performance enhancements available with cloud computing. Like IT professionals everywhere, federal technologists get it. But things are different in the federal community for many reasons. One is the way the nation governs IT, which flows directly from our Constitution [...]

Roger Wicker: Friends, Foes Watching How America Handles Sequestration

Mon, 13 May 2013 14:13:39 EDT

Sen. Roger Wicker, a Mississippi Republican, cautions that the world is watching the U.S. to see how it handles budget situation regarding sequestration. U.S. allies and adversaries are keeping a close eye on Washington as Congress faces a fiscal crisis that includes the nearly half-trillion dollar cut to defense spending under sequestration, according to a Republican senator from Mississippi. Roger Wicker, a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has penned an article for RealClearDefense to outline his case for Washington to handle the fiscal matters now before the full effects of the cuts take precedence. The cuts come at a time when the U.S. faces threats from North Korea, Syria and Iran, Wicker writes, adding he believes the cuts are affecting America's military readiness. Seventeen Air Force combat squadrons have been grounded and the branch has cut more than 94,000 flying hours, according to Wicker, and he cites testimony from military leaders as evidence that the cuts have brought immediate effects.

Army Gen. Ray Odierno Speaks on The Evolution of the U.S. Military

Wed, 08 May 2013 14:10:53 EDT

Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Ray Odierno spoke to reporters in Washington today about the future of the military and what was learned from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. He said that a seventh war fighting function should be added to the skillset of the Army which he believes should be waging a war of ideas against enemies. "People still want to dominate resources, populations and environs, Odierno said. "That is what leads to conflict and to me that is about the human domain/human dimension,” he added. Another related idea that came as a result of the wars was a renewed focus on the relationship between special operations forces and conventional forces. We have worked very closely together over the past six or seven years. We have to continue to project that in the future,” he added. The Army is now looking at whether the special skill set that special forces learn in order to deal with locals should become a core competency of the Army. The Army has setup a new office to work on incorporating this seventh function and will ask questions such as, how does the human dimension/human domain come into play? How does the Army need to adjust doctrine, organizations and its approach to missions?

IBM Debate Series - What’s Next in IT?

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 06:30:00 EDT

Next week I will be participating in the inaugural session of What’s Next in IT Debate Series, a new program of authentic debates and conversations on key technology topics. Sponsored by IBM, The Debate Series is an ongoing series of social video debates, held on Spreecast.com (a browser based social video site much like Google hangouts). The first What’s Next in IT debate will be a stimulating discussion on just when and why infrastructure really matters when it comes to building and managing clouds.

Lisbon Bound: NATO Network Enabled Capability Conference 2013

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 12:58:00 EDT

This week I will have the honor of attending the 2013 NNEC Conference at the Corinthia Hotel in Lisbon, Portugal. The NNEC conference is an annual event which has been sponsored by HQ Supreme Allied Command Transformation (HQ SACT) since 2004. The conference is a major driver to promote NNEC within NATO, the nations, industry and other stakeholders in the civilian and military environment. This annual conference draws international attention as seen during the 2012 event held in Vienna, Austria with registration from more than 35 countries and 415 attendees. During this year's event Major General Eric Vollmecke from the Network Centric Operations Industry Consortium (NCOIC) will be presenting information on its Geospatial Community Cloud (GCC) Demonstration.

Lockheed Unveils New Tailhook Design Allowing for F-35 Carrier Landings

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 10:53:00 EDT

Lockheed Martin has designed a new tail hook for the F-35C Navy variant that is meant to allow the plane to land on carriers and be deployed to the fleet, according to a DoD Buzz article. The most expensive weapons program ever undertaken by the Defense Department has not only been hampered by organizational mistakes but various design flaws. The initial design of the tail hook, had it concealed within the airplane to enhance stealth capability which led to it failing to catch the arresting wires that are stretched across a carrier's flight deck to bring the aircraft to a halt. "Our original design was not performing as expected," said Lorraine Martin, Lockheed Martin's EVP for the F-35 program. "It's now in line with what the legacy aircraft uses," Martin said of the new F-35 tailhook.

Cloud Expo NY: Environmental Pressures Drive an Evolution in File Storage

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 06:00:00 EDT

Stagnant budgets, overwhelming data growth, and new user and application demands are just a few of the many challenges that are putting IT organizations under more pressure today than ever before. As a result, a new approach is required. In his session at the 12th International Cloud Expo, Jeff Lundberg, senior product marketing manager for file, content and cloud at HDS, will discuss why object storage-based private cloud is necessary for evolving into a next-generation of IT that supports a new world of applications and storage service delivery models. Attendees will learn to: Embrace cloud while retaining proper stewardship and governance of data Deliver better, more cost-effective protection of your data Bring structure to unstructured data so you can better understand it Enjoy more efficient storage and network utilization

Demystifying PaaS for Federal Government

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 10:42:00 EDT

The PaaS market is plagued with confusion, and agencies are slow to adopt technologies that they do not fully understand. With the high costs of software development, the Government stands to save billions of dollars by adopting PaaS and other cloud technologies. The Federal CIO's office suggests that Shared Platforms will improve efficiencies by building once and using many times - but what does that mean to Federal buyers? The format will be one hour with 5 minutes presentations by each of five panelists, followed by dynamic Q&A. The format will be similar to the recent 'Shared Cloud Services in Government' event, in which panelists from GSA, NIST, the Canadian Cloud Council and Industry helped raise awareness to the Federal cloud computing community about Shared Services in Government.

Cloud Expo New York: Five Secrets to Cloud Cost Control

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 08:00:00 EDT

There are five essential tools and processes required to manage costs in the cloud. In his session at the 12th International Cloud Expo, Greg Arnette, Founder & CTO of Sonian, will show how by using these tools, the cloud can be more cost-effective and reliable than traditional co-located services – but only if the right upfront planning and long-term strategies are cemented at the beginning of the project. Greg Arnette is Founder & CTO of the cloud archiving company, Sonian. He has been a messaging, collaboration, Internet, and networking expert for over 15 years and blogs at: www.gregarnette.com. He also founded two previous technology companies.

Eye of the GovCon M&A Storm

Sat, 09 Mar 2013 12:00:00 EST

Long-term growth opportunities in government contracting will make for an active M&A market for players with sights beyond the current business cycle. Technological capabilities in areas such as big data, C4ISR and health IT, will drive deals as they will be better funded than some traditional services and solutions contracted to the private sector. After gushing throughout 2012, GovCon M&A deal announcements have slowed to a trickle thus far in 2013. At a recent deal conference in DC last week, lenders and other transaction advisors were commenting about their lack of deal flow. Sellers clearly tried to accelerate deals that might have otherwise closed in early 2013, before year-end. After a blistering number of deals at the end of 2012-55 Defense and Government Services deals were announced in the 4th quarter of 2012 alone-there's only been 16 deals closed so far in 2013 through February.

Beware Cyber Threat Amnesia!

Sun, 03 Mar 2013 08:30:00 EST

There are several certainties in computer security. One is that when adversaries have intent they will always find a way to get what they want. Another certainty is that leadership in government and industry is quick to forget the lessons learned in cyber security, especially those dealing with adversary action. This situation is known as Cyber Threat Amnesia.

Bahrain International eGovernment Forum 2013

Sat, 23 Feb 2013 14:37:00 EST

I am honored to announce that I will be a speaker at the Bahrain International eGovernment Forum, April 8-10, 2013, being held at the Ritz-Carlton Bahrain Hotel and Spa, in Manama, Bahrain. Under the Patronage of His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Supreme Committee for Information and Communication Technology (SCICT), the highly-anticipated Bahrain International eGovernment Forum has cemented its place as one of the region's leading ICT events, growing steadily and expanding its reach year-by-year. It aims to share and exchange productive technological concepts, exhibit and highlight innovations as well as provide a platform for the latest technological practices and trends through featuring numerous up-to-date topics and workshops that embrace Innovation and Open Data, Mobile Trends, Cloud Computing and Shared Services, Social Networks, and eGovernment.

Selling to Government (Especially DoD) – It’s Not All About YOU!

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 12:00:00 EST

My job is all about finding commercial solutions that will solve government problems. Some of my favorite work experiences have been when I can connect a new technology to an existing government problem! Talk about satisfying! Although every company is unique in what it offers, the process is often similar. First, I strive to understand what the company can do. Then, I translate that ability into something that is applicable to DoD. And finally, I look for the place within DoD where that solution is needed. That may sound obvious, but from the perspective of DoD, it’s 100% backwards. And that difference in perspective can often derail the process. So bear with me while I explain. During my years on Active Duty, I concentrated on requirements and capabilities. I knew that defining my requirements was the first essential step that would lead to my success as a war fighter. It was often tempting to jump ahead on the process and start listing the solutions I needed. But I knew that I would never get far that way.

GovTech Innovator: Kevin Jackson

Mon, 03 Dec 2012 10:41:00 EST

Today I am honored to be named a GovTech Innovator by Government Technology. My personal thanks goes out to Hilton Collins for letting me Hangout with him on Google+. Govtech.com is the online portal to Government Technology, a division of e.Republic, Inc. Government Technology and its sister publications are an award-winning family of magazines covering information technology's role in state and local governments. Through in-depth coverage of IT case studies, emerging technologies and the implications of digital technology on the policies and management of public sector organizations, Government Technology chronicles the dynamics of governing in the information age. Managers, elected officials, CIOs and technology staff at all levels of government gain IT news and event information from Government Technology magazine.

DOD Secretary Warns of Life-Threatening Cyber Attack

Mon, 15 Oct 2012 08:00:00 EDT

US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said in a speech in New York City that America is facing a cyber Pearl Harbor that could result in the death of civilians and paralyze the country, scaring everybody out of their wits. He’s thinking about hacks on critical infrastructure, energy grids, smartphones as well as derailed railroads and contaminated water supplies. Researchers suggest that the doors to maximum security prisons could be opened.

Transformational Cloud Computing for Government

Mon, 01 Oct 2012 06:00:00 EDT

Cloud Computing can be approached purely at a technical level, using it for cheaper IT or for hosting of ad-hoc applications. Or it can be approached at a strategic level, by CIO’s looking to drive innovation and be a leader of organizational change. Transformational Cloud Computing is where the technology is combined with some form [...]

Cloud Archiving and Compliance

Fri, 07 Sep 2012 06:30:00 EDT

This is such a hugely important area for Cloud Providers to develop new services because of the double impact it represents. First there is the simple facet of the business opportunity. Clients like governments and the finance industry have extensive requirements for archiving and e-discovery. Secondly and the accelerating factor is that the biggest hold up to Cloud adoption is the lack of maturity in this area. Typically the fears all centre on issues like data residency, where is the data hosted, and what protections are in place to ensure this data is not tampered with and so on. These are requirements that archiving solutions deal with straight off the bat.

Federal Cybersecurity and Information Technology News

Thu, 06 Sep 2012 06:45:00 EDT

AntiSec, a joint Anonymous and LulzSec operation, claimed to have hacked the Federal Bureau of Investigation and posted 12 million Apple unique device identifiers, allegedly pointing to a massive FBI tracking program. Aside from officers patrolling the Democratic National Convention, 20 local and federal police officers will continuously monitor the 500 cameras on the event. A recent Defense Science Board report found that unmanned systems were not being sued optimally due to ”poor design, lack of effective coordination of research and development efforts across the military services, and operational challenges created by the urgent deployment of unmanned systems to theater without adequate resources or time to refine concepts of operations and training.”

Demand for Cloud Services Among Government Agencies

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 07:00:00 EDT

While much of the market attention on cloud services adoption tends to be focused on private enterprise applications, government agencies potentially have a lot to gain from its widespread use.

The cost-savings and scalability advantages of the cloud have been clear to those savvy IT leaders that are informed, but government adoption has been hampered by some unique challenges -- and the absence of a compelling mandate. That is, progress was slow until the "Cloud First" initiative was launched.

IDC has released a status update that details the growing demand for cloud services and enterprise architecture resources among U.S. government agencies. Their latest market study focuses on the results of an IDC Government Insights survey, which measured the progress of cloud solutions at government agencies -- while also examining the related architecture needs.

The results of the comprehensive survey revealed that despite the growing demand for cloud services, many IT managers are unsure of their organization's overall cloud strategy and the resources available to purchase and implement cloud services.

The Strategic Imperative for Cloud Services

The IDC report of the market study findings also highlighted that government employees now realize cloud solutions are becoming important for IT strategy. However, apparently many decision makers are still evaluating what cloud solutions will specifically mean to them and their organization.

In addition, in spite of the fact that managed cloud service offerings have been made available to government agencies for some time now, more than a third of the survey respondents lacked knowledge of cloud services budgeting.

IDC Government Insights finds that extensive government employee outreach is necessary to boost the comprehension or understanding of cloud migration strategies and related budgetary requirements.

Other findings from the latest IDC report include:

Across all levels of government 90 percent anticipate cloud services will have impact on computing infrastructure.
Local government participants were the least optimistic about cloud, with 14.7 percent saying cloud wasn't at all important.
Despite the fact that CFOs are often the people who drive their group's transition to cloud (due to potential cost savings) 60 percent of chief financial officers are only somewhat familiar with their organization's cloud strategy.
Indicating the presence of some progressive thinking, 15.2 percent of respondents said they would dedicate between 1 and 10 percent of their agency's IT budget to cloud services.
When it comes to cloud providers, there is a clear preference across all levels of government for large IT vendors versus smaller, specialty providers.

"Survey data indicates that significant progress already has been made for cloud services, but overall progress will only accelerate once several important issues have been addressed," said Shawn McCarthy, research director at IDC Government Insights.

IDC believes that these outstanding issues include lack of knowledge by some participants on the level of funding available to spend on cloud solutions -- as well as the needed IT architecture changes that can help agencies move more aggressively into cloud.

Furthermore, by focusing on greater outreach efforts to bring all IT employees in line with enterprise cloud plans, government agencies can begin to benefit from the readily available cloud computing services.

The IDC survey was conducted in the late spring of 2012 and measured the responses of more than 400 government information technology employees at various levels of the U.S. government. About half of the participants work for the federal government, with the remainder working in either state or local government.

Federal Cybersecurity and IT News Round-Up

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 06:00:00 EDT

Here is today’s federal cybersecurity and information technology news: U.S. Cyber Command recently conducted a tactical-level exercise called Cyber Guard where it collaborated with subject matter experts from the National Security Agency, the National Guard, the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. More here. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency demonstrated silicone-molded robots capable of [...]

This post by AlexOlesker was first published at CTOvision.com.

Air Force Wants Machine Learning for Targeting

Fri, 10 Aug 2012 14:50:00 EDT

Here is today’s federal cybersecurity and information technology news: The Air Force seeks software that uses machine learning to detect threats and targets from sensor data. More here. The Department of Defense has proposed that military cyber-specialists be allowed to take actions outside of U.S. military networks to defend critical U.S. computer systems. More here. The [...]

This post by AlexOlesker was first published at CTOvision.com.

Major US Government Agency Chooses Silanis E-Signatures

Wed, 08 Aug 2012 16:18:23 EDT

Silanis, the leader in enterprise electronic signature solutions with the largest e-signature deployments, announces that a major US federal government agency has chosen Silanis’ e-Sign Enterprise to bring added transparency and auditability to its organization. With insight and accountability being paramount for all government agencies, enterprise-class systems like Silanis’ e-Sign Enterprise™ are being chosen to better fulfill the US Government’s mandate for agencies to track funds and maintain compliance with changing policies and regulations. By increasing visibility and control into its transactions, this major US government agency will be able to deliver on its obligation.

Alan Silberberg’s Gov 2.0 LA Un-conference

Thu, 12 Jul 2012 06:00:00 EDT

Considered an “un-conference,” Gov 2.0 LA is the mind child of innovator and analyst Alan Silberberg that has been taking place every year since 2010. it brings together many people from around the world and from different fields to talk about Gov 2.0 and the technology surrounding it. Gov 2.0 LA streams the videos online [...]

This post by SierraCobb was first published at CTOvision.com.

Power Outages; Flame and Stuxnet; Recorded Future and More

Wed, 04 Jul 2012 06:15:00 EDT

CTOvision, CTOlabs and the tech consultancy behind them Crucial Point LLC are all run out of the Washington DC area. We seek global views of technology but this region is definitely our base and we have a very high percentage of readers in the local ecosystem. For those of you here, you know the biggest tech story right now is not [...]

This post by AlexOlesker was first published at CTOvision.com.

Anonymous Takes Down More Governmental Websites

Mon, 14 May 2012 06:30:00 EDT

This week Ustream gets an injection of political reality, Apple fixes a critical encryption blunder affecting some of its users, FBI documents are leaked detailing their worries over Bitcoin digital currency, and Anonymous takes down more Governmental websites as part of its ongoing operations.

Federal Government to Watch MySpace for 20 Years for Privacy Violations

Tue, 08 May 2012 15:50:00 EDT

Should MySpace last the next 20 years, it’ll have at least one close observer: the federal government. MySpace’s privacy practices will be kept under close watch by a third-party observer for two decades as part of a settlement related to an investigation of the company’s advertising sales strategy, the FTC announced Tuesday. Read the full [...]

SOCOM Networks, Satellite Tracking, and More

Thu, 03 May 2012 02:00:00 EDT

Today’s federal cybersecurity and information technology news round-up: The proposed Social Networking Online Protection Act (SNOPA) would make it illegal for employers to demand access rto social media accounts. More here. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has requested proposals for automated tracking and identification solutions for satellites More here.

Cyber War and the Expanding Definition of War

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 18:03:00 EDT

Editor’s note: This post by Sean Lawson provides context on cyber conflict, an area of interest at the nexus of national security and technology. – bg Recently, Dr. Thomas Rid of the War Studies department of King’s College in London published an article in the Journal of Strategic Studies titled, “Cyber War Will Not Take Place.” Rid’s essay relies upon a definition of [...]

Must-See Technologies at DoDIIS

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 02:00:00 EDT

The Department of Defense Intelligence Information Systems (DoDIIS) conference is held once a year by the Defense Intelligence Agency technology leadership team. This is an incredible event full of information-packed presentations and social sessions. One of its greatest features is a expo floor with 100′s of technologies available for demonstrations and evaluations. That great feature has become [...]

Cyber Threat Analysis Not Just for the Military

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 10:30:00 EST

"Cyber Threat Analysis" is the practice of effectively fusing knowledge of an organizations network vulnerabilities, both internal and external (including essential IT systems), and matching these against actual cyberattacks and threats seen out in the wild. The output of this fused analysis is an advanced defensive detection mechanism with a final goal of enhancing the defensive posture of the network against real cyber threats. We at Cyber Squared refer to this as "Security Intelligence". Security Intelligence transitions our clients from a state of reactive security to a proactive one through an intelligence-led, threat-focused approach to cyber security. Combining the ability to share relevant threat knowledge and effectively understand your own defensive weaknesses, as well as your gaps in detection, can help you assess global threats other organizations are currently facing and apply that to your own organization. It also allows your analysts to focus on the real, targeted threats, and filter out those that simply distract your security operations.

Confusion Surrounds PaaS for Federal IT Buyers

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 07:00:00 EST

VIENNA, Va., Jan. 23, 2012 —NJVC, one of the largest information technology solutions providers supporting the U.S. Department of Defense, and Virtual Global, a premier provider of software and cloud computing platform solutions for a variety of industry and federal customers, announce the release of a joint white paper, “Platform as a Service (Paas): What Is It? Why Is It So Important?.”

The paper clarifies the confusion surrounding PaaS for IT decision makers in the federal government. The National Institutes of Standards and Technology (NIST) suggests PaaS as a component of the Federal Cloud Computing Reference Architecture, but one major challenge exists: Most buyers do not understand what PaaS is, why it is important and how it can help federal agencies cut development costs by more than 50 percent.

“Federal Chief Information Officer Steven VanRoekel said that platform as a service is the next major value set for federal cloud computing, and it also aligns closely with his Shared Services initiative to knock down stovepipe software and save money,” said Kevin Jackson, co-author and general manager, NJVC cloud services. “I hope that this whitepaper will help raise awareness of its importance in the federal marketplace.”
Many PaaS vendors require their customers to make long-term commitments to proprietary infrastructures. Some early adopters of PaaS unknowingly have already made casual, long-term commitments to infrastructure providers. “It's somewhat like buying gum at the counter, but needing to rent the store for 10 years,” said Cary Landis, co-author and Virtual Global senior platform architect and founder. “That is why NIST is stressing the importance of openness and portability. IT buyers must understand PaaS to make the right decisions early.”

PaaS makes it possible for software developers to participate in the cloud. Until recently, the cloud has been dominated by big email and infrastructure providers selling commodity services. “PaaS changes the landscape—it opens the playing field to hundreds of thousands of software developers and integrators, giving them a way to actively participate,” according to Jackson. “Whereas the first wave of cloud computing was about consolidating data centers, the PaaS wave is about consolidating applications. It will be a more complex ride, but the savings will be greater,” Landis said.

Download the white paper at no cost at http://www.slideshare.net/kvjacksn/njvcvirtual-global-paas-white-paper. NJVC and Virtual Global are team members on the GovCloud™ initiative.

###

About NJVC

With a focus on information technology automation, NJVC specializes in supporting highly secure, complex IT enterprises in mission-critical environments, particularly for the intelligence and defense communities. We offer a wide breadth of IT and strategic solutions to our customers, ranging from strategic consulting to managed flexible services in five business areas: Cloud Services, Cyber Security, Data Center Services, IT Services and Print Solutions. Our global workforce includes dedicated and talented employees with 94 percent holding security clearances located at more than 170 customer sites. We partner with our customers to support their missions. To learn more, visit www.njvc.com.

About Virtual Global

Virtual Global is a premier provider of software and cloud computing platform solutions for a variety of industry and federal clients. The SaaS Maker™ family of platform products is open and modular, so that you can integrate with existing open source, legacy and 3rd-party web services. It is also portable across data centers. http://www.virtualglobal.com

Contact

Michelle Snyder, NJVC, 703.893.7609, michelle.snyder@njvc.com
Audra Capas, 5StarPR, 703.437.9301, audra@5starpr.com

( Thank you. If you enjoyed this article, get free updates by email or RSS - KLJ )

Government Cloud Hubs – Shared Services Cloud Architecture

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 07:30:00 EST

The previous blog talked about Municipalities beginning to move into a mode where they not only buy in Cloud services, but they also become a seller of them too. Research analyst IDC calls these ‘Cloud Hubs’ in new insights they are revealing about how this effect is already occuring in the USA, with municipalities buying … Continue reading »

Predicting the 2012 Campaign Compromises

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 09:11:00 EDT

With the 2012 political season upon us, we have just gained a glimpse of the individual candidates and their cyber policies. It is from those cyber policies that we have also heard the candidates address China; specifically Chinese nation state cyber sanctioned or sponsored espionage. To the American voter, “cyber” issues may not be the hot topic that the economy, immigration or the presence of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan are. However, the candidates and their staffs would benefit by recognizing cyber security is not just a second tier national issue for debate, but a very real problem that they will have to deal with directly in their own campaign’s security posture. The candidates should begin by looking back to the 2008 Obama and McCain campaigns. For those who can remember, both camps reported that their campaign networks had been compromised. The FBI and Secret Service both acknowledged the severity of the compromise with one agent telling Obama’s team “You have a problem way bigger than what you understand, you have been compromised, and a serious amount of files have been loaded off your system." Authorities would rule out political opponents suggesting it was a foreign actor seeking to gather information to assess the individual candidates policy positions. Obama’s technical experts would later speculate that the attackers were either Russian or Chinese.

Emma Suleiman To Debut Her First Film On Network Television

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 09:16:00 EDT

Emma Suleiman will debut her first film "The Birds Will Fly" (under a new title) on network television in October. The film, among the cornerstone documentaries of Syrian revolution will be featured on Al Arabia network worldwide. Suleiman, a young Syrian filmmaker in the Middle East, released her film on Syria's freedom journey online in August for Arabic speaking viewers. A graduate of Sorbonne University in Paris, Emma graduated first in her class, held public relations and corporate marketing positions in Dubai before launching her film making career full time.

Start-up Betas Java PaaS for the Federated Cloud

Sun, 14 Aug 2011 06:15:00 EDT

CumuLogic, the latest Java Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) start-up, sent its widgetry out into public beta the other day hoping enterprises, cloud providers and ISVs use it to build and manage Java apps in public, private and hybrid cloud environments. It’s after the mid-sized and large enterprises, where Java lives, that want to develop and deploy Java apps in the cloud. And it’s not exactly going to turn away any enterprise-grade cloud vendors looking to offer their customers a Java Platform-as-a-Service. Naturally, out in the wild it’ll encounter CloudBees’ RUN@Cloud, VMware’s Cloud Foundry, Red Hat’s OpenShift and Microsoft’s Azure.

Emma Suleiman's Syrian Refugees on The Border Documentary in Production

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 17:15:00 EDT

Emma Suleiman, one of the most talented young filmmakers in the Middle East, is working on her documentary - "Borderline: Life on the Turkish/Syrian Border." The documentary reflects the struggle and lives of 11,000 Syrian refugees who escaped from the Syrian government's systematic killings near the Turkish/Syrian border villages.

US Antitrust Chief Leaving DOJ

Mon, 18 Jul 2011 07:00:00 EDT

US antitrust chief Christine Varney is leaving the Justice Department early next month to join Cravath, Swaine & Moore, IBM’s pet outside law firm. There she’s supposed to specialize in antitrust issues related to mergers and acquisitions. The Wall Street Journal says Cravath almost never recruits partners from the outside. No successor has been named and the paper expects an interim replacement from inside the department to be named.

Open Linked Data as the Foundation for Open Government

Fri, 27 May 2011 11:43:28 EDT

In our OpenGovernmentCanada.com event we'll be covering 'Open Linked Data'. As part of my work to promote Cloud Computing globally, I'm focused on a number of core technologies that are also key to Open Government. In particular 'Open Linked Data' - See my main summary of this here, where I describe that it will enable "Cloud 2.0" apps. Open Data is a very popular topic within the Open Government conversation, with the UK in particular leading a number of very exciting innovations in this area via data.gov.uk, such as launching a Public Data Corporation.

Next for My American Baby in Syria: A Refugee Camp in Turkey

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 15:00:00 EDT

The US State Department on Monday said that it has ordered some non-essential US embassy officials in Damascus and all embassy dependents to leave Syria because of the "uncertainty and volatility" in the country. On Wednesday Bloomberg reported that "Turkey considers it likely that Syrians may flee the country and has designated areas for refugee camps and hospitals in the cities of Hatay, Kilis, Gaziantep, Sanliurfa and Mardin near the Syrian border, it said. Additional mine-sweeping equipment has been sent to police stations in the area, it said."

US Embassy Staff Out Of Syria, Leaving My Two Year-Old Daughter Behind!

Tue, 26 Apr 2011 14:22:00 EDT

The US State Department on Monday said that it has ordered some non-essential US embassy officials in Damascus and all embassy dependents to leave Syria because of the "uncertainty and volatility" in the country. As of this morning, and since July 2010, my abducted daughter Sofia Kircaali, a US citizen, remains in Syria and in harm's way. Over the Easter weekend and on Monday, the Syrian government’s crackdown against protesters and demonstrators appeared to be reaching a crescendo, as President Bashar al-Assad is apparently refusing to grant any further concessions and seems determined to squelch any further expressions of dissent. I've been watching videos on the Internet showing violence inside a mosque one block away from where Sofia currently lives with her mother and grandmother.

Startup America Needs You!

Tue, 26 Apr 2011 11:37:00 EDT

Startup America is the Whitehouse policy program to create jobs and stimulate the economy through enabling more entrepreneurs to start new businesses. The recent financial crisis has had such a dreadful impact on so many families that this initiative is almost like a post-war effort to rebuild the country from the devastation. And it's a global effort too really. This impact ripped through the rest of the world in the same way, and will only be repaired when the USA is returned to their central growth engine role.

Sofia Facing Bloodiest Easter Abducted in Syria

Sat, 23 Apr 2011 18:00:00 EDT

Uncle Feras Bankosly MD's "physician license" in the United States should be revoked immediately due to his abduction of Sofia from her home in March, 2010, as he has endangered Sofia's life by keeping her away from her much-needed medical care in Syria. The Syrian doctor should also be deported from the United States for his actions against humanity, as he doesn't care about the health of his two-year-old niece Sofia. Sofia needs intense urgent daily therapy, up to 4-5 hours per day, which was scheduled to start seven months ago in New Jersey, United States. She has not received any medical attention for her condition since her abduction to Syria.

DoDIISTech.com Is a New Reference for DoDIIS Technologists

Thu, 21 Apr 2011 21:42:00 EDT

Crucial Point LLC has just established a new online reference focused on the DoD Intelligence Information Systems community: DoDIISTech.com. DoDIISTech.com contains a wealth of information on the technologies supporting the intelligence community, including applications for infrastructure, analysis, business and mission domains. It contains relevant, action-oriented context, joining our growing family of web properties that include CTOlabs.com, CTOVision.com and FedCyber.com, During the DoDIIS World Wide Conference of 2011 the DoDIISTech.com site will be updated continuously with twitter feeds, blog articles, photos and video of the hottest technology in the community.

Feras Bankosly, Uncle Who Kidnapped Sofia to Syria, Is MD in Chicago

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 19:54:00 EDT

More than a year ago, Sofia was abducted from her home in Lighthouse Point, Florida, by her Syrian National uncle, who is practicing medicine in the Chicago area. Last March, a Florida judge issued an order to pick Sofia up from the uncle's house in Chicago and return her to her home to Florida. Due to a jurisdiction question in court - since Sofia had never lived more than 6 months in one state at the time of her abduction - the judge later gave temporary custody to her mom until the court could determine final jurisdiction between Florida, New Jersey, and Illinois. In July 2010, based on this uncle's instructions, Sofia was abducted by her mom to Syria where she has been missing her life-saving medical treatment. Sofia's Syrian National uncle is still practicing medicine in the Chicago area. As I explained repeatedly in multiple blog posts since her abduction more than six months ago, she needs urgent daily therapy, which was initially scheduled until the age of three. I strongly believe that the MD uncle's "physician license" in the United States should be revoked immediately due to his abduction of Sofia from her home in March, 2010, as he has endangered Sofia's life. The Syrian doctor should also be deported from the United States for his actions against humanity, as he doesn't care about his two-year-old niece Sofia. I will discuss the details of this situation on national morning TV shows, which will air in the United States.

My Abducted Two-Year-Old American Guest Worker Daughter in Syria

Mon, 11 Apr 2011 15:06:00 EDT

Since her abduction by her mother last summer, my two-year-old US citizen daughter, who is in ailing health, remains in her abducted country of Syria under the immigration status of "Palestinian Immigrant Worker." Sofia needs to appear every three months before Syrian immigration authorities to renew her "guest worker" visa, stamped in her American passport. Syria, one of the most oppressed regimes in the world together with North Korea and Iran, does not offer many human rights, freedom or democracy, nor does it recognize the International Hague Convention for Child Abduction. Not being a Syrian citizen Sofia has no civil rights. For the past seven months she did not receive any medical care for her GDD - Global Development Delay condition with autism. Since she is an out-of-status American child, she is also not able to enroll in any accredited child care facilities in Syria.

US Leaves Its Youngest Citizen Behind in Syria

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 19:00:00 EDT

Yesterday (Sunday) AP reported that "State Dept. issued travel warning on Syria" and this morning (Monday) Reuters filed a follow-up report that "US offers free flights out for employees in Syria." As of this morning, and since July 2010, my abducted daughter Sofia Kircaali, a US citizen, remains in Syria and in harm's way. On Friday, I watched videos on the Internet showing violence inside a mosque one block away from where Sofia currently lives with her mother and grandmother.

OpenRFP.net Plugs Canada's Innovation Gap

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 16:39:36 EDT

Toronto - Canada has been awarded a degrading 'D for Innovation', fundamentally because the Canadian IT industry simply isn't inventing enough. Insufficient funding and insufficient support for business start-ups has resulted in a huge innovation gap in Canada. First this means the Canadian economy isn't being developed as vigorously as it should be, and secondly, it also means the Canadian Government buyers aren't spending enough with local Canadian businesses. "Many Canadian entrepreneurs and small businesses would love to be able to win Government contracts, but they lack the scale to play at this level," said Neil McEvoy, Founder, OpenRFP.net. "They're either too small to meet the requirements, can't fulfil the entire proposal by themselves or they can't compete against the international IT giants. This means in many cases that foreign firms end up sending millions of Canadian tax dollars out of the country."