Technically News - 12/10

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.

As agency data centers close, measurement tools take center stage

Consolidating data centers is only the first step on the road to savings. With the Office of Management and Budget reporting the government is on track to close 651 data centers by 2013, the Federal Data Center Consolidation Initiative will integrate with PortfolioStat to measure their goals and returns. This GCN article takes an in depth look at the tools.

Open Source and the Power of Community

President Obama’s Digital Government Strategy is intended to encourage agencies to participate in open source software communities in an effort to share data, improve tools and services, and return value to taxpayers. Read this White House article on open source and why having a presence on Drupal.org and releasing source code benefits tax payers.

Naval Academy to add cybersecurity major

The Naval Academy intends to develop a cybersecurity major and plans on doing so with a $100 million fund. They hope to have the major accredited by ABET within four years. Last year, the Academy changed its core curriculum for the first time in a decade when they added two cybersecurity classes. The Academy also wants to build a new cybersecurity center on campus. Read this Washington Times article to learn more.

IDC unveils top 10 predictions for the public sector in 2013

IDC Government Insights has released their top 10 predictions for public sector IT in 2013. Among their forecasts are an acceleration of mobile applications development on all levels of the government, greater adaption of social business software, and a peak in infrastructure consolidation. Get the full list by reading this Enterprise Innovation article.

US Navy awards software maintenance contract to DLT Solutions

The US Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command has awarded DLT Solutions a blanket purchase agreement. DLT will provide Department of Navy Oracle Enterprise and Ashore Database software maintenance. The work will be performed in Herndon, VA and will be completed in November of 2012. This Strategic Defence Intelligence article has more information.