Cloud2 Commission Releases Report on Cloud Computing

Posted by Sarah Falvey, Sr. Policy Analyst, Google

In May we announced our participation in the TechAmerica Foundation’s Commission on the Leadership Opportunity in U.S. Deployment of the Cloud (CLOUD²). The Commission had a three-month mandate and we are excited to unveil the finished report entitled Cloud First, Cloud Fast: Recommendations for Innovation, Leadership and Job Creation.

This report is an important roadmap to assist the US government with moving toward more rapid cloud adoption while continuing to promote commercial innovation. More than 70 companies worked together to provide the government with detailed recommendations—and Google is proud to have been a member. The report consists of four key policy areas: Trust, Transformation, Transparency, and Transnational Data Flows and seeks to address barriers within each area that hinder cloud adoption. The Commission also produced a “Buyer’s Guide” to help government agencies evaluate cloud offerings and move services to the cloud.

This report is an important first step in outlining the necessary policy steps needed to keep the U.S. at the forefront of cloud innovation.

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Google Joins Cloud2 Commission Examining Cloud Computing

Posted by Sarah Falvey, Sr. Policy Analyst, Google

At Google, we believe the Internet is a rich platform for innovation and that when organizations fully adopt online services (what we call "100% web") they dramatically improve productivity and reduce their costs. In order to advance these interests, we work closely with similarly minded groups to advance this common goal and to enable innovation.

To that end, we are excited to participate in the TechAmerica Foundation’s recently formed Commission on the Leadership Opportunity in U.S. Deployment of the Cloud (CLOUD²). The Commission’s three-month mandate is to provide the Obama Administration with recommendations for how the U.S. Government could help drive American innovation in the cloud. This comes on the heels of the Administration's "Cloud First" policy, an important first step in helping the federal government take advantage of the benefits cloud computing has to offer. The Commission will make recommendations to the U.S. Government on ways to spur the adoption of cloud computing and to address policies that hinder U.S. leadership in the commercial space. We’re supporting the efforts of two CLOUD² working groups: the first works on facilitating the flow of information between countries, and the second deals with security in the cloud.

With Google Apps, we are investing in technologies that help businesses, educational institutions and governments be productive with a 100% web approach. We’re committed to minimizing barriers to adoption of the cloud by the public sector. Additionally, we hope to promote the development of technology-neutral, non-proprietary and interoperable standards to ensure that the benefits offered by cloud computing are fully realized.

For these reasons, we’re excited to support TechAmerica’s efforts in this important area and look forward to working with other industry players to further the adoption of cloud computing.

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In D.C.: Health-care reform clears key hurdle...

Good overview and update in the New York Times this morning:

House members headed home on Friday, leaving behind the outlines of a nearly $1 trillion health care overhaul that is sure to draw fire from a variety of interests, but also shows the beginnings of a consensus that would provide insurance for more Americans and give them new rights in dealing with insurers. Click here to read the story.

Politico tries to peer a little further into the future:

But the bill's turbulent passage widened longstanding rifts within his party, rifts that imperil his landmark push for vastly expanding health care coverage when Congress returns to session in the fall. Click here to read more.

And in Slate, there's an interesting -- really -- look at declining insurance enrollments and what it means to insurers and national health care reform. A key point, from writer Daniel Gross:

...(I)t turns out the current arrangement, through which employers are supposed to buy coverage from large insurance firms and enlist their employees to cover the costs, isn't working so well for the insurance industry, either. Click here to read Gross' piece.

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