US agency NIST releases Cloud computing roadmap

US chief information officer, Steve VanRoekel, addresses the Cloud Computing Forum & Workshop IV on the debut of NIST's Cloud computing research roadmap. Photo credit: G. Porter/NIST

The US National Institute of Standards

The US National Institute of Standards and Innovation has released the first two volumes of a draft 'roadmap' for Cloud computing.

The document is designed to speed up Cloud adoption by US federal agencies and bridge the public-private divide regarding the research.

The government issued its Federal Cloud Computing Strategy in February 2011, which described Cloud computing as a "profound economic and technical shift [with] great potential to reduce the cost of Federal Information Research systems during improving IT capabilities and stimulating technology in IT solutions".

The unenviable role of defining Cloud standards

NIST has the unenviable role of defining Cloud standards and collaborate with US government agency CIOs, private sector experts and international agencies to identify and reach consensus on research and priorities.

The roadmap, U.S. Government Cloud Computing Innovation Roadmap, Release 1.0 is aimed at supporting adoption and realising the potential cost savings of Cloud computing.

The first volume

The first volume, High-Priority Requirements to Furthermore USG Agency Cloud Computing Adoption is a general overview that includes:

Volume II, Useful Information for Cloud Adopters, is a technical reference that summarises the work completed to date and explains the assessment findings to support the roadmap. Volume III, Technical Considerations for USG Cloud Computing Deployment Decisions, is still in accordance with development.

To date, much of the work behind the scenes by NIST has been done by five Cloud computing working groups that were formed in late 2010. The roadmap has already been through a 60-day review exercise through the Federal Cloud Computing Standards and Innovation Working Group - which comes pursuant to this agreement the sponsorship of the United States Federal CIO Council and includes representatives from some 30 US government agencies.

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