Apps.gov Raises Priority for Reliable Mobile Broadband
Federal CIO Vivek Kundra recently announced the launch of Apps.gov, a GSA-operated Web site that government agencies can use to both install and purchase cloud computing applications. Apps.gov features a multitude of applications designed to help government employees work more productively online.
For example, the “office tools and suites” section of the site includes word processing and spreadsheet applications. The “surveys” section contains applications which offer employees the ability to gather feedback to improve services. The site even contains applications for collaboration, meetings and conferencing, designed to help users conduct meetings and presentations over the Web.
The shift toward Web-based applications for government workers is not limited to the federal government. The New York Times reported earlier this year on the growing trend of police departments to integrate customized social-networking platforms with their traditional crime-fighting tactics.
Government agencies are also attracted to the security benefits of cloud computing and Web-based applications. A recent article from Computerworld illustrated the CIA’s adoption of this approach, while specifying that classified data will be hosted within the agency’s firewalls rather than Apps.gov.
To ensure reliable access to Web services wherever someone’s work takes them, embedded mobile broadband modems are now a must-have feature for professionals’ laptops in both the public and private sector. Embedded modems provide better wireless signals than external cards, and also provide an added layer of reliability by avoiding loss, theft or damage.
It will be interesting to see how quickly the government workforce adapts to these changes, and which Internet applications become the most popular. We’ll be following it closely and continue enhancing our products to meet this growing need.
