Report: U.S. federal government promoting 'cloud first' policy

The United States government is planning to encourage all of its agencies to adopt managed cloud services, according to a recent report from InformationWeek.

The government intends to implement what it is calling a "cloud first" policy by fiscal 2012, the report said. The policy will require that all government agencies adopt cloud services wherever doing so is possible.

In anticipation of the new policy, many government agencies may already begin adopting cloud services during 2011. Some agencies have already done so, including the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Interior and the General Services Administration.

Since his appointment in 2009, federal CIO Vivek Kundra has made cloud services adoption a priority for government IT policy, according to the report. Kundra has advocated government adoption of more "light technologies," including cloud services.

Managed cloud services are being utilized in a growing variety of contexts. Nevertheless, education about cloud computing remains lacking in some sectors, according to reports. A recent study indicated that approximately 64 percent of workers at medium-sized organizations do not fully understand the concept.