GSA Office Serves As ‘Little Sparkplug’ For Technology Innovation In Government
From: AOL Government
By Richard W. Walker
David McClure calls the General Services Administration’s Office of Citizen Services and Innovative Technologies (OCSIT) “a little sparkplug igniting innovation all across government.”
Indeed, OCSIT’s just-released 2012 annual report, “More for Mission,” serves as a 51-page catalogue for the office’s multi-pronged push for innovation in technology in the federal government.
“We are a lean but incredibly productive office,” said McClure, OCSIT’s associate administrator.
In 2012, OCSIT continued to implement government-wide solutions and lead key information technology management reform initiatives that will let agencies “significantly increase operational efficiency and effectiveness, saving significant resources,” he said.
At the top of the innovation agenda is OCSIT’s drive for the adoption of cloud computing across government through its Federal Cloud Computing Initiative (FCCI) Program Management Office. According to the report, potential government spending on cloud computing is $20 billion, which would amount to a quarter of the current total federal IT budget of $80 billion.
In the last year, OCSIT solidified its role as the government-wide champion for cloud computing, “helping agencies to identify and move to cloud-based solutions when a secure, reliable, cost-effective cloud option exists,” McClure said. The program office is leading the way in cloud computing through a range of initiatives:
–Working for GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service to establish contract vehicles for cloud computing, including infrastructure as a service and e-mail as a service.
–Leading by example by hosting and managing some of the administration’s showcase Web sites in secure and reliable cloud-computing environments, such as data.gov, usa.gov, challenge.gov and businessUSA.gov.
–Managing the Federal Risk Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP), www.fedramp.gov a nascent framework for security assessment, authorization and continuous monitoring for cloud products and services. Officials expect FedRAMP to help accelerate agency adoption of cloud services by alleviating security concerns.
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