Azure Government
Updates for building solutions across Microsoft's Clouds for Government
Latest posts
Join us Nov. 29! Gov Cloud Migration Strategies & Creating a Culture of Change
While cloud is becoming the new normal for government, agencies are still challenged with the daunting task of IT modernization and developing a cohesive cloud migration strategy. Oftentimes, what’s holding back progress is that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all cloud playbook. That, combined with agency culture, hinders many agencies from making their move to cloud. Please RSVP and join the Azure Government DC user community Wednesday, Nov. 29, 6 – 8:30 p.m., for a Meetup on Gov Cloud Migration Strategies & Creating a Culture of Change featuring government and industry experts who will share best practices ...
Creating a Secure Space for IoT in Government
IoT is multi-dimensional and flexible in the way it can improve agency function and bring nuanced approaches to citizen services, all while existing on a secure platform. With IoT, you are connecting to a vast web of devices such as street cameras, monitoring tools, and a wide array of other “things.” This also presents a unique obstacle when it comes to security. Every time a new device is added to the network, a new vulnerability is potentially introduced. IDC’s recent report, How Government Organizations Are Looking at IoT, outlines consideration for CIOs when choosing an IoT software and service provider....
Identity in Azure Government
In this episode of the Azure Government video series, Steve Michelotti talks with Bernie Ellis from the Azure Government Engineering team about Identity on Azure Government. Bernie starts out by talking about the three different Identity models and the things you need to know for each of the scenarios. Bernie also discusses available protocols in Azure Active Directory for Azure Government. Steve and Bernie also discuss in-depth the scenarios around authenticating an app running on Azure Government across different scenarios including AAD for Office 365. If you’ve been having questions on Identity on Azure Gover...
Is Mission Driving Your Cloud Strategy?
In working with federal agencies, we’re seeing a new level of maturity in terms of the ability to use the cloud to dramatically impact mission, achieving much more than just cost savings. For example, the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs Access to Care allows Veterans, caregivers and the public to access wait time and quality of care measures across the health care industry. This tool is designed with transparency in mind – taking highly complex data and making it easily available to Veterans and the public. To accelerate your agency’s ability to use the cloud to drive innovation and agility for your mis...
Building Real World Solution on Azure Government with Machine Learning
In this episode of the Azure Government video series, Steve Michelotti sits down to talk with Vishwas Lele, CTO, Applied Information Sciences, about building real world solutions on Azure Government with Machine Learning. Vishwas describes a solution built for a classified customer in which machine learning is used to provide recommendations on relevant news articles for analysts. The machine learning functionality of the solution was provided by Microsoft Machine Learning Server (formerly known as Microsoft R Server) which is directly callable from C# code! In addition to the machine learning aspects, the soluti...
Benefits of Blockchain for Government Agencies
Kevin Leffew is a Solution Specialist for Microsoft for US SLG with a specialization in Blockchain and the Modern Workplace. You can find him writing about all things related to blockchain, distributed systems, and digital identity on his blog (https://medium.com/@kleffew) and on Twitter @kleffew94 In today's rapidly modernizing economy, the digital transformation of government organizations is absolutely key for improving efficiency and sustaining the overall health of each agency. At Microsoft, we view digital transformation strategy as the core driver in improvements to productivity, efficiency, and coll...
Change the Way Your Agency Thinks About the Cloud
Cloud migration should be at the top of every Federal CIO’s priority list. [1]Cloud technology offers agencies the tools they need to drive impact with innovation in a rapidly changing digital world. With the cloud, CIOs can bring about digital transformation to support agency missions, using technology as the foundation of new approaches to citizen services. Cloud resources free up agencies from the burden of legacy infrastructure, increasing efficiency and creating new opportunities. CIOs need to change the way government agencies think about the cloud, removing obstacles to cloud migration. Adopting new te...
Empower Federal Employees with Modern Technology
In Gartner’s Top Seven Priorities for U.S. Federal CIOs, they maintain that revitalizing the IT workforce should be looked at as an opportunity for CIOs to improve the quality of employees their organization has.[1] One way of doing this is by modernizing the workforce with new and innovative technology. CIOs can leverage updated technology as a way to retain current talent and allow them to refine, refresh, and grow their skill set, keeping them competitive with peers in other industries. Advanced technology will also attract new, innovative talent that allows agencies to push their mission forward. Across t...
How Government is Using IoT to Provide Better Services to Citizens
A recent report by the International Data Corporation (IDC) estimates that by 2020 the number of devices connected to the internet will exceed 30 billion.[1] This web of connected devices, or Internet of Things (IoT), gives government agencies a new and unique opportunity to leverage innovative technology to provide better services to citizens. While IoT is still an early stage technology, such devices have long been used before the concept was fully developed. For instance, the City of Los Angeles has 145,000 street lights and 4,500 intersections.[2] By connecting these devices with IoT technology, agencies c...