My previous entry was on Web 2.0 in government. I want to add some fresh links and expand the conversation to cloud computing which some people, in an effort to give the entire world a headache, refer to as "Web 3.0".
Before we talk about Web 2.0+, let me share this glossary of Web 2.0 terms. I used to go mad trying to understand all of the Web 2.0 / Web 3.0 terms. Blogs, Wikis, Folksonomies, Mashups, Tags, Tag Clouds, Widgets, Cloud Computing, SaaS, etc. Like Web 2.0 itself, there is no one in charge of Web 2.0 and the terminology has taken on a life of its own.
While I initially thought Web 2.0 was just for kids (hence all of the annoying terms), I'm a convert now. Facebook really makes my life better both personally and professionally. Mashups allow our company to deliver more value than ever to the government, and SaaS companies serve our most critical CRM and Web conferencing needs.
Most importantly, I'm convinced that cloud computing is going to make technology more powerful and cost-effective for government in so many ways that we will look back on 2008 10 years from now and see it as the infancy of e-government.
To that end, I want to add another important link which is this story on cloud computing.
We have over 250 government agencies using our Software as a Service platform here at GovDelivery. I don't consider use of our hosted, SaaS, platform by itself as cloud computing, but now that the service is becoming more open and allowing other applications to tap into it for limited functions, it really is "service in the cloud." For us, this means allowing agencies to connect to our "On-Demand Mailer" whenever an agency needs additional mail sending scale for certain applications or needs to send a message to a stakeholder with assured delivery to the inbox, tracking, reporting, etc.
The article referenced above lists these benefits of cloud computing:
The article concludes with the typical security concerns that are always raised when government talks about doing something new. Here is the good news, it's not all or nothing.
For example, the On-Demand Mailer service we offer is currently built to handle emails you are already sending out over the public Internet.
We are not offering the service to the CIA for sending highly-classified emails... that is not something that belongs in the Cloud.
Still, there are many services that fit well into the Cloud now. Web 2.0 and cloud computing raise all kinds of security concerns. Luckily, from the looks of all the blogs, Wikis, mashups, etc. that we see on government sites despite the security concerns raised about Web 2.0 in government, government Web and e-government managers will find the appropriate areas where they can leverage cloud computing without taking unnecessary security risks.
Before we talk about Web 2.0+, let me share this glossary of Web 2.0 terms. I used to go mad trying to understand all of the Web 2.0 / Web 3.0 terms. Blogs, Wikis, Folksonomies, Mashups, Tags, Tag Clouds, Widgets, Cloud Computing, SaaS, etc. Like Web 2.0 itself, there is no one in charge of Web 2.0 and the terminology has taken on a life of its own.
While I initially thought Web 2.0 was just for kids (hence all of the annoying terms), I'm a convert now. Facebook really makes my life better both personally and professionally. Mashups allow our company to deliver more value than ever to the government, and SaaS companies serve our most critical CRM and Web conferencing needs.
Most importantly, I'm convinced that cloud computing is going to make technology more powerful and cost-effective for government in so many ways that we will look back on 2008 10 years from now and see it as the infancy of e-government.
To that end, I want to add another important link which is this story on cloud computing.
We have over 250 government agencies using our Software as a Service platform here at GovDelivery. I don't consider use of our hosted, SaaS, platform by itself as cloud computing, but now that the service is becoming more open and allowing other applications to tap into it for limited functions, it really is "service in the cloud." For us, this means allowing agencies to connect to our "On-Demand Mailer" whenever an agency needs additional mail sending scale for certain applications or needs to send a message to a stakeholder with assured delivery to the inbox, tracking, reporting, etc.
The article referenced above lists these benefits of cloud computing:
This list of benefits is literally the Holy Grail of government IT!
- Reduced Cost
- Increased Storage
- Highly Automated
- Flexibility
- Allows IT to Shift Focus "No longer having to worry about constant server updates and other computing issues"
The article concludes with the typical security concerns that are always raised when government talks about doing something new. Here is the good news, it's not all or nothing.
For example, the On-Demand Mailer service we offer is currently built to handle emails you are already sending out over the public Internet.
We are not offering the service to the CIA for sending highly-classified emails... that is not something that belongs in the Cloud.
Still, there are many services that fit well into the Cloud now. Web 2.0 and cloud computing raise all kinds of security concerns. Luckily, from the looks of all the blogs, Wikis, mashups, etc. that we see on government sites despite the security concerns raised about Web 2.0 in government, government Web and e-government managers will find the appropriate areas where they can leverage cloud computing without taking unnecessary security risks.
