Technically Speaking

Autodesk University (AU) is a great event for anyone looking to explore new innovations in digital design or brush up on their software skills. But not all public sector organizations have the budget to send their CAD teams to AU. No problem! AU has assembled a catalog of on-demand sessions that you can watch for free. You can also download the presentations, workbooks, and transcripts to keep by your side as you explore what you’ve learned.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has long been a proponent of Building Information Modeling (BIM). In 2010, VA issued its Building Information Lifecycle Vision or “BIM Guide” stating its commitment to move the organization and its service providers to BIM “as effectively and efficiently as possible”.

Another nameless, faceless adversary (or as the U.S Army calls them “the enemy with no face”) struck again in the last week of June. Hot on the heels of WannaCry attack in May, the Petya ransomware campaign brought widespread disruption to organizations, government agencies, and infrastructure worldwide.

It’s clear that smart technologies and the Internet of Things (IoT) are the future of our communities. But, is your agency ready for the billions – soon to be trillions – of sensors and devices connected to one another that will transform our society? The risks of a breach or attack, particularly to vulnerable network endpoints, are worrying and costly.  Impacts include:

Want a good idea of “what’s coming next” in federal IT? Look no further than the financial services industry. Consider the similarities between financial firms and government agencies. Both are highly regulated and striving for greater agility and efficiency and better control of their networks and data—not to mention both are highly regulated. Meanwhile, cybersecurity remains a core necessity for organizations in both industries.

From streaming movies to checking email 24x7, we take “always-on” data applications for granted. But in the public sector, this always-on mindset is a little slower to catch on. From cyber-attacks to power outages, data center outages to application failure, IT outages are an ongoing problem for the U.S. government.