Lohrmann on Cybersecurity

This has been a rough week for our technology operations. The good news is that our critical Secretary of State systems are up and offices are open and helping customers.

I was recently asked: What is the next big thing in technology?

Youre never as good as you look when you're winning, and never as bad as you look when you're losing. I think that adage applies beyond sports to many aspects of life and business including the management of computer operations connected to the global Internet in 2011.

How important is social networking to leading companies right now? Very important. In some cases, it may even be the most important priority. Its time for state and local government agencies to reexamine these social networking trends and build new strategies to engage partners with social media.

What is FedRAMP? How does it help with cloud-computing environments? Can we use it here in our state? I expect these questions will be asked across America over the next few years in the halls of state and local governments.

Microsoft released the new Internet Explorer (IE) 9 this past week, and government enterprises across the world now have another important decision to make.

As Japan strives to recovers from the devastating earthquake and tsunamis, global governments are sending aid in a variety of forms.

As state leaders gather in Washington, D.C., this weekend for the 2011 National Governors Association (NGA) Winter Meeting, one topic on the agenda is cyber-security. Experts in the field will be addressing questions like: What threats in cyber-space do we now face? What are the potential ramifications of these cyber-threats? What steps can governments take now?

Egyptian democracy and high-speed Internet are not topics that typically go together, but they were both highlighted during President Obama’s speech this week in Marquette, Michigan.

A quiet, but dramatic, change is well under way in rural America. Over the next two years, Broadband Internet access will become available to many parts of the United States that have been struggling with only dial-up connectivity up until now

“What do think about that WikiLeaks situation?” I’ve been getting that question a lot lately - not only from the typical techies or security pros, but from just about everyone else.

It’s that time of year when everyone seems to be recapping 2010 and making technology predictions for 2011. Here are my favorite predictions and some important trends to watch regarding government technology infrastructures for 2011.