Cloud/Gov News 
SIIA Says Fed IT Acquisition Reform is Moving in the Right Direction, But Concerns Remain
Wed, 20 Mar 2013 19:54
SIIA today applauded Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and the House Government Oversight & Reform Committee for including many of the organization’s recommendations in legislation to reform federal IT acquisition, but said further changes are still needed. Following the bill’s mark-up today, SIIA outlined several key areas that it believes must be addressed for the bill to have the intended positive impact on the federal IT marketplace.
Chairman Issa and his staff have clearly recognized that, more than 16 years after Clinger Cohen became law, federal IT acquisition reform is long overdue. We’ve been working closely with the Chairman and the Committee, and believe that the marked-up version of the legislation is much improved and headed in the right direction.
SIIA remains supportive of the legislation’s objectives, but we continue to have concerns with several specific provisions and the impact they will have on federal IT marketplace. Following today’s mark-up, we will continue to work with Chairman Issa and the committee in order to make improvements in four key areas. We remain very hopeful that, with careful consideration and deliberation, Congress will develop an effective solution to this important concern.
SIIA is seeking changes to the legislation in a number of areas, including:
* Removal of the provision that would create a standardized approach to security assessments for cloud products and services. This provision would essentially establish the FedRAMP process in statute and could conflict with FISMA requirements, creating confusion for cloud companies seeking to do business with the federal government.
* Revising the software licensing provisions, which currently fail to recognize the value of resellers, the varying types of user licenses, and the overall scope of software licensing in the federal government. The current provisions could potentially create additional barriers to entry for small and minority businesses.
* Revising the provision asking agencies to justify not using the Federal Strategic Sourcing Initiative (FSSI) for any purchase of services and supplies offered under FSSI. The current provision appears to give an unfair preference for FSSI, and the vast majority of IT products and services purchased by the federal government are too complex to be effectively purchased using FSSI.
* Updating the section on website transparency to make open data the default for government and to embrace the use of open application program interfaces (APIs).
Read SIIA’s full comments.
Michael Hettinger is VP for the Public Sector Innovation Group (PSIG) at SIIA. Follow his PSIG tweets at @SIIAPSIG. Sign up for the Public Sector Innovation Roundup email newsletter for weekly updates.
SIIA Urges Support for Legislation to Reform ECPA as House Subcommittee Examines Cloud Privacy
Mon, 18 Mar 2013 20:03
SIIA called for a level playing field for cloud computing as the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security and Investigations prepares for a hearing tomorrow regarding reform of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA).
We have seen tremendous technological advances in communications and computing technology since 1986, when ECPA was enacted. The legal framework provided by this outdated statue leaves both providers and users of remote computing with a complex and baffling set of rules. These rules are both difficult to explain and to apply in this age of networked and cloud computing.
SIIA urges members of the Judiciary Committee to work with all deliberate speed to enact legislation creating a warrant requirement for law enforcement access to remotely stored electronic content. It is critical to level the playing field for information Americans store in the cloud, ensuring that it receives the same protection as the information they store in their homes.
Ken Wasch is President of SIIA. Follow the SIIA Software team on twitter at @SIIASoftware.
SIIA Applauds Cybersecurity Commitment Announced in Tonight’s State of the Union Address
Wed, 13 Feb 2013 03:45
SIIA congratulates President Obama and his Administration for making cybersecurity a priority. We appreciate the President’s efforts to seek broad input in crafting the Executive Order signed today. We are particularly pleased that the Executive Order excludes commercial information technology products and consumer information technology services from the definition of ‘critical infrastructure at greatest risk.’ The Administration is clearly seeking to advance American innovation with this effort, however, the way in which the Order is implemented will be critical in determining its success or failure.
As we work with the Administration on implementation, a priority for our industry will be to avoid rigid regulations that impede the innovation that is essential for effective cybersecurity.
A regulatory approach seeking to cover a broad, rapidly-evolving cross-section of industry would have the unintended consequence of slowing technological innovation and limiting our collective cybersecurity preparedness. Therefore, it is essential that the Administration work with industry to implement the Executive Order in a way that retains necessary flexibility. Technological innovation must be allowed keep up with rapid developments pertaining to both cybersecurity threats and protections.
To that end, we look forward to continuing to work closely with the Administration and congressional leaders to implement this policy.
Ken Wasch is President of SIIA. Follow the SIIA Policy team on Twitter at @SIIAPolicy.
