The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has published the final version of its two-volume US Government Cloud Computing Technology Roadmap, officials announced Wednesday.
The documents identify strategic and tactical objectives that would support accelerated adoption of cloud computing in the federal government, and could be valuable for other organizations, NIST said.
The first volume, High-Priority Requirements to Further USG Agency Cloud Computing Adoption, focuses on five priorities: security, interoperability, portability, performance and accessibility. It also lays out 10 requirements for cloud adoption, such as developing international standards, security solutions, and clear and consistent categories of cloud services.
The institute notes that "each requirement is described and features a list of ‘Priority Action Plans’ with target completion dates," and "research teams from government, industry and academia are working on these plans &hellip"
The second volume, Useful Information for Cloud Adopters, introduces a conceptual model, the NIST Cloud Computing Reference Architecture and Taxonomy and presents U.S. government cloud target business and technical use cases.
The second document covers security challenges in cloud computing adoption and "also identifies existing interoperability, portability and security standards that apply to the cloud model and specifies high-priority gaps that need new or revised standards, guidance and technology," NIST said.
Over the past few years NIST has put out a range of influential publications on cloud computing, such as a definition of cloud computing and recommended security controls for cloud information systems.
