We’re excited to announce today that Microsoft has made IoT Hub available in Azure Government, the most secure and compliant cloud platform for U.S. government to run mission workloads.

Internet of Things (IoT) is revolutionizing industries such as utilities and retail, and now U.S. government customers and their partners will be able to more quickly and easily deliver IoT solutions that dramatically change the ways they can achieve their missions.

With IoT Hub now generally available on Azure Government, U.S. government customers will be able to establish secure bi-directional communications between IoT devices and the solution back end. One of the biggest challenges that IoT projects face is how to reliably and securely connect devices to the cloud and IoT Hub solves this by:

• Offering reliable device-to-cloud and cloud-to-device communications, including messaging, file transfers, and request-reply methods.
• Enabling secure communications using per-device security credentials and access control.
• Connecting to any IoT device and OS combination, using the included device SDK for the most popular languages.

The potential for IoT innovation in government is boundless. For example, today’s military organizations can embrace IoT to improve their military effectiveness by attaching sensors to combat vehicles and other equipment that help monitor assets and obtain a real-time picture of what’s happening on the ground. Likewise, fighter aircraft are increasingly being equipped with advanced sensors that give pilots a 360-degree view of battle information. By collecting data from sensors attached to everything from equipment to drones to soldiers, the U.S. military can collect and analyze vast amounts of information to obtain new insights and predict outcomes in real time.

State and local governments are now able to use Azure Government to implement solutions that monitor real-time traffic congestion, parking availability, and weather conditions with the goals of increasing efficiency and reducing costs associated with the delivery of new and valuable citizen services. The opportunities are endless, from reducing response times for emergency services to using usage tracking and smart grids to drive energy efficiency.

A significant challenge for IoT services today is security. IoT Hub in Azure Government will especially benefit agencies with mission scenarios that require a secure, compliant bridge between the IoT device or endpoint and a cloud storage solution. Azure Government keeps your information protected, ensuring data and IoT security.

“AvePoint is excited about what Azure Government with IoT Hub enables for our work with states and the federal government,” said Tarek Shamounki, SVP of Enterprise Sales, AvePoint Public Sector. “As we continue to partner closely with Microsoft to drive digital transformation in the public sector, Azure Government with IoT Hub enables us to deliver solutions like AvePoint Citizen Services that are both innovative and compliant.”

Enabling innovation while maintaining compliance is critical for Microsoft and our government customers as we deliver new cloud services to Azure Government. Over the last three months, we have announced new cognitive services, and data analytic and visualization services along with break-through data storage services for Azure Government. IoT combined data analytics tools and storage help governments derive meaning and value from the growing volumes of data types generated by citizen services apps, sensors, and other devices. Government customers can be assured that all of this new data is secure and compliant with Azure Government.

With the new IoT features announced today, U.S. government customers and their partners have expanded options for delivering on their missions with innovative and secure solutions. To learn more about what Microsoft is doing in this area, check out the Azure Government blog and sign up for an Azure Government Trial.