Recently, a new message and stronger direction have emerged from our friends at Symantec concerning the cloud.

Technically News is a new feature on Technically Speaking that scans thousands of industry articles to present you with a weekly source of IT news, information and ideas that impact the public sector.

I hear very often that cloud platforms, specifically private clouds, are simply the next evolution of virtualization. This is incorrect and hides a massive amount of complexity, concern, and good old fashion work in a fog of assumption & misunderstanding. I'm not the type to be a real stickler for proper terms of art; generally if I can figure out what you’re after in a conversation I let it slide. However, this one is too big to leave alone.

With Sandy’s passing, LiDAR has again become the talk of the geospatial community. New York City officials plan on using LiDAR technology to accurately measure the city’s elevation. They’ll do so by flying aircrafts over the city and bounce lasers off the surface to determine changes and areas that need immediate attention. The data will then be used to prepare for future hurricanes.

Technically News is a new feature on Technically Speaking that scans thousands of industry articles to present you with a weekly source of IT news, information and ideas that impact the public sector.

Would you like to learn how your government agency can use Autodesk Factory Design Suite to increase the power of AutoCAD software with the benefits of Digital Prototyping? If so, join DLT Solutions and Autodesk for a live webinar on Thursday, November 29, 2012. Autodesk product expert Mick Fears will be speaking about how this solution gives you the ability to spend less time drafting and more time optimizing and visually communicating factory layouts.

DLT Solutions sponsored last month’s 3rd Annual Amazon Web Services (AWS) Public Sector Summit, where I saw firsthand that Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) are gaining acceptance and increasing traction as the Public Sector migrates workloads to the cloud.

As hurricane Sandy began pummeling our nation’s capitol last night, and as everyone was busy buying batteries, candles, and water, I was reminded of data backup storage. As a species we’ve been wired to adapt to no electricity or hot water for a good number of days. We’re used to it: It wasn’t until 1891 that the White House was wired, and even then President Benjamin Harrison was too afraid to use the light switches. However, we are not wired to deal without our data. Collecting data and knowing it’s going to be there whenever we boot up our computer, tablet or smart phone – sunshine or rain – is relatively new.

With roadway design and construction outsourcing costs rising and growing pressures to maximize tax dollar value, state and local governments are increasingly looking for better ways to improve transportation design projects – on a lower budget. Outsourcing has its advantages, providing convenient access to skilled expertise while helping agencies ease their workload. The process, therefore, of moving this function back in-house is often easier said than done.