Cloud Computing - Cross-agency Panel

The cloud computing panel is setup to discuss how different agencies and companies are using and shaping cloud computing for their operations. We invited leaders from industry and agencies to share their driven objectives, experiences, present their lessons learned, and long-term strategies. Topics include but not limited to

1)      What is your agency's view in regard to Cloud Computing?

2)      What is your agency's near term plan for Cloud?

3)      What is your agency's position with regard to public, private, and hybrid Cloud?

4)      Is your agency working with any public cloud provider(s)?  Any feedback on the quality of their service?

5)      What is your Big Data problem?  Can cloud be the solution?

6)      What are the fundamental, designing, implementation, application, and policy/social issues for cloud computing?

7)      What are our best practices and lessons learned?

8)      What are the long term strategies?

Each panelist will be presenting for 10 minutes, Q&A, and discussions will be following the presentations.

Panelists:

1)      Mike Little, NASA

Mike Little works in both the remote sensing data and supercomputing communities, focusing on data exposure technologies.  As a result, he has been involved in Federal Big Data and cloud computing activities.  During a recent detail to NASA HQ, SMD and the NASA CIO collaborated on an evaluation of the Nebula Cloud Computing Capability as a tool to do more science within the same budget.  Working in conjunction with the High End Computing Capability at Ames and the National Center for Climate Simulation at Goddard as well the CIO’s office at JPL, Mike drove the study to completion in preparation for an FY12 budget decision.  As part of this testing, the Amazon Web Services Cloud and Microsoft’s Azure system were also evaluated for comparison.  Mike has managed computing technology programs at NASA for almost 21 years, first in the Office of Aeronautics at NASA Headquarters and then later at NASA Langley Research Center, including the CERES instrument and the Atmospheric Science Data Center. He also worked at the NextGen Air Transportation Joint Planning and Development Office. Prior to NASA, Mike worked on the 1990 Census, the Air Force Consolidated Space Operations Center in Colorado Springs, US Navy and Marine Corps system development programs.  Mike's first legitimate work experience was as a nuclear trained submarine officer boring holes in the ocean.  A degree in Physics from the University of Missouri in 1972 barely prepared him for the ensuing chaos.

2)      Stephen Lowe, USDA

Stephen Lowe is the US Department of Agriculture Geospatial Information Officer. As the senior executive for enterprise-wide geospatial, imagery, and GIS strategy, he is responsible for extending the power of place-based solutions to internal decision-makers, citizens, and other stakeholders across 29 unique mission and administration areas.  He is the Senior Agency Official for Geospatial Information (SAOGI), and represents the Department on the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) Executive Committee and Steering Committee.  Mr. Lowe has 24 years of federal government business and technology change management experience with the Department of the Navy, Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Office of Management and Budget, and the Library of Congress.  He also served as a Senior Solutions Architect for Enterprise Innovation and Strategy with SRA International. Mr. Lowe holds graduate degrees in the Management of Information Technology from University of Virginia and in Public Administration from Virginia Tech, as well as the bachelor of Political Science from James Madison University. He is a PhD candidate at University of Glasgow, Scotland UK, conducting research in the field of organizational strategy.

3)      Doug Nebert, FGDC

Douglas Nebert is the Senior Advisor for Geospatial Technology for the U.S. Federal Geographic Data Committee, an interagency coordination group for geospatial data and services in the US. His primary responsibility is the application of geospatial standards and architectures that facilitate the discovery, evaluation, visualization, and access to geographic information. He has worked with the U.S. Geological Survey since 1983, first as a hydrologist, and since 1997 he has supported technology and standards implementation with the FGDC Secretariat in Reston, Virginia. His current efforts are related to technical architecture development and deployment of core services for the Geospatial Platform and its GeoCloud activity, acting technical lead for data.gov 2.0, and task lead for the U.S. on the Intergovernmental Group on Earth Observation (GEO).