As I have discussed in a recent post, Federal CIO Steven VanRoekel is pushing for government IT initiatives that “enable the delivery of digital information and services anytime, anywhere, on any device, safely and securely-throughout the Federal workforce and to the American public.” This digital government movement seeks to develop a more open and agile government IT system, and is driven by the coming of age of cloud computing.

But can military and defense agencies be a part of this movement to the cloud? And if so, how can they reap the benefits of cloud computing while mitigating risks?

Pros and Cons of the Federal Cloud

Listing the benefits of cloud computing is easy: not only can the cloud help large agencies save on IT infrastructure costs, but it also allows for “on-demand” access to computing power from any location.  Though all agencies need to be aware of the costs of the cloud, these benefits alone make it an easy choice for many within government.

When it comes to the military and defense community, however, there are several key factors to consider that make moving to the cloud more of a risk:

• Security and privacy: In defense IT, data location and access is of critical importance, and different data exist at different levels of sensitivity and importance. As a result, defense and military outlets may be wary of moving their classified data and mission-critical computer power off-site.

“Staff turnover is as inevitable as death and taxes, and for government it looms on the horizon. By the end of 2015, according to OPM projections, more than 50 percent of the 7,746 senior executives in place at the beginning of 2011 will have left government, taking with them key institutional knowledge and critical skills.” So begins recent study published by the Partnership for Public Service and Booz Allen Hamilton entitled “Preparing the People Pipeline: A Federal Succession Planning Primer.”

As we get closer to that 2015 turnover projection, what can federal agencies do to recruit and prepare the next generation of government leadership? To answer this question, Lisa Doyle of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) recently led a webinar to share her thoughts on using government training as a platform for effective succession planning.

At last month’s TechCrunch Disrupt conference, U.S. CTO Todd Park and U.S. CIO Steven Van Roekel made an announcement that will change the way we access and use government data.  Their announcement was centered on the launch of a new “digital roadmap” that will encourage wider use of government data while making that data more open and more easily accessible to the public.  As the writers at TechCrunch put it: “With the launch of the new digital roadmap, the U.S. government is hoping to increase the way that users can access data in many different ways. It’s also designed to decrease inefficiency in government and to allow developers to build applications that the government would never have dreamed up.” The digital roadmap is based upon the following concepts:

• Open Data as the new default
• Anywhere, any  time on any device
• Everything should be an API
• Make government data social
• Change the meaning of social participation

The United States Army’s Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) is charged with the formidable task of overseeing the training of Army forces and developing the branch’s comprehensive operational doctrine.  Through this mission, TRADOC educates hundreds of thousands of personnel, including 9,500 foreign army soldiers, with 1,400 courses at 33 different schools.

With these impressive numbers in mind, how does TRADOC do it? A critical part of the answer is TRADOC’s use of digital platforms to deliver training programs that educate over 150,000 soldiers every year.  Blackboard’s web-based capabilities are specifically leveraged for the Lifelong Learning program, which provides continuous course enrollment and learning opportunities for Army officers so they can access critical knowledge at the point of need.

In keeping up with current events and trends in the military and government space, I have become an avid reader of a blog called DoD Live.  It’s an official Department of Defense outlet that covers a wide range of topics related to the military, ranging from going “green” in the DoD to women’s interest topics to one of my top professional interests, military training. Perhaps my favorite aspect of DoD Live is this diverse range of topics that it covers, helping readers get a bird’s eye view of what’s happening in our military.

Considering the wide variety of issues that are relevant to understanding the defense sector, as well as the continuous updates to federal policies and legislation that impact the DoD, being able to gain such a broad scope is quite valuable to those of us in the industry. One recent post of interest , entitled “American’s Military – A Profession of Arms,” came from the desk of General Martin E. Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.  The post highlighted a document of the same title that Chairman Dempsey released to articulate the ways the U.S. military is adapting as a profession.   In particular, he discussed how the military is seeking new ways to develop and retain knowledge through training and leadership development.  Ultimately, the goal of enhancing the military as a profession is to provide the next generation of service members with a solid foundation in institutional knowledge and mentorship.