Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., one of the key architects of the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA), is bullish on the Federal government’s efforts to modernize its IT systems and move to cloud computing. But there are dangers lurking around every corner.
“The soft underbelly of public policy is the IT piece,” Connolly said, speaking June 15 at the 2016 Cloud Computing Brainstorm in Washington, D.C., sponsored by MeriTalk. “You get that wrong, all of your wonderful, glorious public policy reforms collapse. Whole initiatives can collapse. Public confidence can be lost.”
In the following video, Connolly outlines the many dangers facing the government’s effort to modernize its aging IT infrastructure. But the time to act is now, he said, while there is still bipartisan support on Capitol Hill and effective leadership in the Federal Chief Information Officer’s office.