Capitals in the Clouds: Challenges and Opportunities to Get Your Data Right NASCIO Releases Second Brief in Cloud Computing Seri

NASCIO, an association devoted to

state CIOs and a leading advocate for technology policy at all levels of government, is producing a series of briefs on cloud computing in state government. Part II of the “Capitals in the Clouds” series emphasizes that data management is a critical element for any enterprise approach to sharing IT resources, and cloud computing is presented as one of many alternatives to sharing resources. In any shared resource scenario, data must be examined for inconsistencies across the partnering agencies.

“State government data architecture and the database structures within our physical data bases reflect and enforce specific business rules,” said Carolyn Parnell, chief information officer for the State of Minnesota and co-chair of the NASCIO Enterprise Architecture and Governance Committee. “Are those the right business rules? And when bringing a diverse group of agencies or departments together to share IT resources, using a variety of means, including cloud computing, there must be a clear and precise understanding, and agreement, on business rules.”

"The process of bringing multiple agencies together to explore what can be shared at an enterprise level affords the opportunity to not only harmonize the data, but also advance toward a data architecture that better reflects what the business rules should be," said David Behen, chief information officer for the State of Michigan and co-chair of the NASCIO Enterprise Architecture and Governance Committee. “As we explore various approaches, we have the opportunity to create a true ‘enterprise’ data resource as we bring together state government agencies to optimize IT services. We’ll need to understand the diversity in data across the partnering agencies.”

To learn more about NASCIO and its work to further government information technology policy, visit NASCIO’s website at www.nascio.org.

About NASCIO

The National Association of State Chief Information Officers is the premier network and resource for state CIOs and a leading advocate for technology policy at all levels of government. NASCIO represents state chief information officers and information technology executives from the states, territories, and the District of Columbia. The primary state government members are senior officials who have executive level and statewide responsibility for information technology leadership. State officials who are involved in agency level information technology management may participate as state members. Representatives from other public sector and non-profit organizations may also participate as associate members. Private sector firms may join as corporate members and participate in the Corporate Leadership Council. For more information about NASCIO visit

www.nascio.org

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AMR Management Services provides NASCIO’s executive staff. For more information about AMR visit

www.AMRms.com/

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Contact

Shawn Vaughn

Membership and Communications Coordinator

National Association of State Chief Information Officers

(859) 514-9156

svaughn@AMRms.com

www.NASCIO.org

Eric Sweden

Program Director, Enterprise Architecture and Governance

National Association of State Chief Information Officers

(859) 514-9189

esweden@AMRms.com

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