Tim Watson

Federal agencies spent close to $4.9 billion on Big Data resources during fiscal year 2012 and that number could grow to $5.7 billion in 2014. Research firm Deltek estimates federal big data spending will grow to $7.2 billion by 2017 as agencies strive to handle ever-increasing volumes of data, E-Commerce Times reports. John Higgins writes that one initial challenge agencies face currently is coming up with a definition of "Big Data." Alex Rossino, a Deltek principal research analyst at Deltek, told attendees at a March 14 conference that traditional analytics tools and computing resources are not able to keep up with the demands posed by the large amounts of data coming into agencies. Greg Elin, the Federal Communications Commission's chief data officer, told E-Commerce Times the current procurement process could inhibit agencies' abilities to acquire big data too... (more)

Eric Schmidt: Disruptive Tech Changes Education, Health

The world has gone from only a small group of people having access to information to having everyone in all corners of the globe accessing every piece of the world's information, according to Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt. Schmidt detailed that change and its impacts on sectors such as education, business and media in an interview with James Manyika of the McKinsey Global Institute. Humans and machines are racing each other to find the most efficient way to carry out tasks, according to Schmidt, who says machines have largely replaced low-wage workers at grocery stores... (more)

Richard Bejtlich: Digital Weapons Can Cause Physical Damage

The world needs to develop a deeper understanding of digital defense, spying and war as many still believe espionage is a step below a full-scale digital attack that could be seen as an act of war, according to Mandiant Chief Security Officer Richard Bejtlich. In an article for Foreign Affairs, Bejtlich argues that hackers and other adversaries can use the same tools for digital espionage to commit digital destruction and the amount of damage is not solely based on intent. Cyber espionage can quickly escalate to cyberwar, resulting in physical damage from digital weapons, Bejtlic... (more)

Dell's George Newstrom Charts Govt, Enterprise IT Evolution

George Newstrom, Dell executive director and general manager for the federal government defense and national security business, has penned an article for the company's official corporate blog on what he calls the "third platform" of technologies as he charts the evolution of information technology. Platform one saw mainframes and terminals hit the market and Newstrom writes this development helped government and other industry end users access thousands of applications, reaching millions of end users. Many places are in the second platform of client and server offerings, which st... (more)

ICE Drops Blackberry for iPhone

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement started to provide its employees up to 17,000 iPhones for work and personal use as the agency moves to replace its Blackberry devices. ICE selected the iPhone after evaluating other types of smartphones such as Android devices and analyzing Blackberry maker Resarch in Motion's business model and innovation rate, GovExec reports. Mobile security company Good Technology is helping ICE roll out the iPhones after previously helping the Department of Homeland Security protect its technology, data and applications from unauthorized people such a... (more)