Chief technology officers from more than a dozen leading software firms and the White House’s top technology gurus kicked off a two-day conference yesterday aimed at making better use of cloud computing across the federal government.
The Business Software Alliance’s sixth annual forum hosted CTOs from 13 software firms including Microsoft, Symantec and IBM and federal CIO Vivek Kundra and CTO Aneesh Chopra. White House Cybersecurity Coordinator Howard Schmidt and two U.S. senators were also part of the discussions.
The forum was to touch on three major issues, according to InformationWeek. They include: a fair procurement policy, the creation of cloud-technology standards and privacy concerns.
The forum took place as the administration leads renewed efforts to review federal IT projects and reassess IT needs.
The federal government’s implementation of cloud computing offers opportunities for partnership between  software firms and the government, said BSA CEO and President Robert Holleyman.
“By bringing the private and public sectors together on this issue, we can ensure that government seizes those opportunities in ways that promote innovation throughout the marketplace,” he said.
Kundra also made headlines yesterday when it was announced he would be shuttering an over-budget and behind-schedule Department of Justice IT project and restructuring Department of the Interior projects.
The Government has to tread carefully here. The creation of cloud-technology standards, could also bring about limitations in the clouds full potential. The need to create standards is essential, especially for new organisations coming onto the playing field. The cloud companies all need to be speaking the same language for there to be synergy in order for the cloud to gain more supporters. The governments input could move cloud providers overseas, if they start to restrict their movements.