In a bid to accelerate and make more cost-effective the adoption of cloud computing, the federal government Thursday issued the first government-wide security authorization for a cloud computing service as part of the new Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP).

SafeGov recently had the opportunity to speak with the Inspector General of the Polish Data Protection Authority (Ochrony Danych Osobowych), Wojciech Wiewiórowski. Below is an edited transcript of our conversation.

Commentary on a recent article in Washington Technology by SafeGov expert Jule Anderson.

Federal leaders cannot escape The Cloud. It's possible every conference on any federal leader's 2012 calendar offered at least one session on the topic for very good reason.

An advocacy group that endorses giving patients control over sensitive health information is asking the Office of Civil Rights for the Department of Health and Human Services to issue guidelines for regulating cloud computing.

Today, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) published its third report on cloud computing, "2012 Federal Cloud Review," an update of the federal government's activity on cloud computing. The report reviews federal information technology (IT) spending, obstacles to widespread cloud adoption, the General Services Administration's (GSA) implementation of the federal risk and authorization management program (FedRAMP), cloud brokering and other new options for cloud purchasing and management, the stability and security of cloud services, and digital government strategy as it relates to cloud computing.

A newly released White House strategy for federal information sharing lists among its top priorities adoption of metadata standards and the further extension of the Federal Identity Credential and Access Management framework.

As agencies put the Digital Government Strategy in motion in their offices, the government is addressing the hot-button issue of privacy with the release of recommendations from the CIO Council’s Privacy Committee. In a blog post dated Dec. 14, the council linked to a document with the recommendations, which can help agencies prepare for protecting private information as they implement the strategy.

The National Security Agency is launching a mobile device capability at the end of this year that will allow its personnel to securely access classified information with their smartphones and tablet computers.

No health system IT department can do it all. This means providers will inevitably turn to third-party technology companies for things like analytic services, cloud storage and secure mobile messaging. It also means organizations will have to navigate the tricky world of business associate agreements. Presenters at the Health Privacy and Security Forum in Boston said covered entities must be cautious when signing such an agreement.