Police departments are, in certain respects, like any other modern enterprise. They are driven by information. Their demand for computer networks and the applications that run on them is constantly growing. And their budgets are tight. Hence their interest in a variety of different cloud computing services is understandable and will rise with time.

Application migration and integration is a huge issue that should not be overlooked when moving to cloud infrastructures, representatives from the General Services Administration and Justice Department told a Washington, D.C., audience.

Cloud computing is a gold mine for the U.S. tech industry, but American firms are encountering resistance from an unexpected enemy overseas: the PATRIOT Act.

In yet another effort to manage costs and make government information more available, President Obama has ordered federal agencies to improve their records management activities in part by moving from paper-based records to a cloud-based system.

The General Services Administration is working with several federal agencies to provide a common, cloud-based infrastructure where agencies can access geospatial data, in an effort to lower storage costs and reduce duplication.

Office of Management and Budget Director Jacob Lew has approved the cloud security memo and guidance, known as FedRAMP, pushing it to the brink of public release, Federal News Radio has learned.

The 2012 Federal IT budget request is $80.9 billion, with most federal IT spending requests slightly ahead of 2011 levels. Priorities include telework and mobile computing as well as cloud computing and virtualization.

At a recent AFCEA Bethesda breakfast, Scott Renda from the Office of Management and Budget told the assembled ears that OMB, the General Services Administration, the Homeland Security department and the Defense Department are working to create one, or possibly more, new contracts to make it easier for federal agencies to purchase cloud computing solutions.

CIO Susan Lawrence has been tasked by the Army's top official, Secretary of the Army John McHugh, with contributing to the military's cost-cutting objectives. She plans to invest near term to save long term, with a goal of "returning" $1.5 billion to the Army budget by fiscal 2015.

Serious change is afoot in the intelligence community. Some of the most opaque federal organizations are doing what might have sounded crazy five years ago: They’re moving their classified, sensitive information — some of it, at least — off their own servers and into the cloud. Moreover, they will be sharing that information with one another.