Federal government develops cloud initiative

The National Institute of Standards and Technology recently unveiled a new strategy for the government to develop a cloud computing roadmap. The NIST aims to develop its roadmap based on input from a May cloud computing workshop, CIO council meetings and input from the industry, said Dawn Leaf, senior executive for cloud computing at NIST, according to Fierce Government IT.

"I can't emphasize enough that our perspective, in this strategy[,] is that the ownership is a community ownership," said Leaf. "We see industry really driving and leveraging their expertise, in terms of the reference model, ontology and technology."

For the roadmap, NIST hopes to define government cloud computing business using cases and neutral cloud computing reference architecture. The institute hopes to provide some unity in cross-agency cloud computing. "Right now, when government CIOs want to go to the cloud, it's kind of a free-for-all, and they have to think of everything themselves," said NIST director Patrick Gallagher. "We want to help provide a structure."

Plans for a roadmap come on the heels of significant government forays into cloud computing. Recently, agencies ranging from NASA to the U.S. Army have incorporated cloud computing and cloud services.