DISQUS

Joe Mazzafroe · 12 months ago

Happy New Year GourleySan! I think this is help list because it connected to the present (i.e. I can extrapolate from things to today to what you say is coming) and at the same time thought provoking.
As with most list like this though there are some inherent contradictions with the use of "free software" being my poster child here.
Hard to argue that you can beat a better price than free, but I can certainly see issues here. Linux is free, but Red Had build a significant along with Oracle in delivering it ----- for a price!
My real issue though with free software are things like governance, standards, and interoperability. If the IC, or any other IT centric segment of the Federal Government can get its act together to mandate a spec list of free software and configurations for functionality then the benefits will be overwhelming, but I believe pigs will fly first and this certainly not achieveable in 2009/FY2010.
To my point about contradiction: You forcast (I believe correctly) that developing and deploying collaboration suite tools and apps will accelerate BUT to look for MICROSOFT, ADOBE, and CISCO to be key players. Again I agree, but I don't associate any of these companies with free software.
To close what I see happening is CIOs/CTO in the IC(only community I have competence to comment upon) having to measure against not so clear metrics of whether buying COTS out of the box enterprise suite solutions (based on open standards but bundled and tested for interoperability/collaboration by major Software Companies)or hirig integrators to build "roll your own" IT solutions leveraging free software. Either way the software is not "
free"
As always Bob thanks an informative blog that makes me think more deeply about how the IC and the IT industry do and should intersect. joemaz

Amy (@sengseng) · 12 months ago

IPv6 has to be adopted or users/businesses will be left with an antiquated internet. Since China has more high-speed Internet users than IP addresses and the largest Internet user base of any country, other countries must adopt or fall behind China.

CTO Bob Gourley · 12 months ago

Thanks Joe, for the great context as usual. I don't see the significant contradictions you do, at least I don't see them as things that can't be mitigated. Your note reminds me, however, that I should clarify something. Just as it is an observable fact that open source and open standards are trends with the power of an unstoppable force of nature, it is also clear that the great powerhouses of proprietary technology and the 1000's of smaller high tech firms that rely on intellectual property will also create unstoppable forces. I never meant to imply that all innovation will be open and I should probably be more clear in my future writings about that.
Cheers,
Bob

CTO Bob Gourley · 12 months ago

Amy,
Thanks for the comment about IPv6. I know you are right and my hope is the big firms wake up and get on with it. I think they can demonstrate significant benefits to consumers if they phrase things properly and I hope they get to it soon.
Bob

Dave Fauth · 12 months ago

Mashups/open source should be more prevalent especially with the anticipated funding reductions (less GWOT money).
As the new IC metadata tagging/sharing standards are rolled out, any technology that can assist in that will be a big plus.

CTO Bob Gourley · 12 months ago

Dave, thanks for the note. I agree with you about the pressures of falling budgets. Mashups and open source are looking smarter and smarter. So is saving energy.
Bob

Bob Flores · 12 months ago

A friend of mine sent me his composite of technology predictions he's found:
More utility / cloud computing;
ongoing refinement and expanded use of virtualization;
more SaaS;
ever-thinner desktops;
more “netbooks;”
even smarter smartphones;
continued focus on green, but with some loss of cachet;
more focus on data management;
the ongoing maturation of SOA;
more IT industry consolidation;
more touch screens;
improved search (with a semantic focus); and
economic recovery that begins around October.

CTO Bob Gourley · 12 months ago

Thanks Bob for that list. Those all sound right on the mark. Very good point about green losing some cachet. As for economic recovery, oh boy I hope it is soon. I wonder who to trust on that issue. So many experts missed predicting the train wreck. Some predicted it, but who knows if those folks were smart or lucky?
Bob

Lewis Shepherd · 11 months ago

Bob - just checked out the new site - VERY nice. Looks very clean, very professional. Well done.
Now you just have to keep writing :-)

ctovision · 11 months ago

Facebook connect is now up and running on my blog.

jack Israel · 11 months ago

Just a few thoughts.
Mashups are cool, but they present a lot of security problems in classified environments.
Endeca, which I saw earlier, continued to have scaling problems in A-Space.
Linking/viz apps market is wide and hard to narrow down--Visual Analytics, I2, Saffron, Dulles Research, Palantir, Centrifuge, Penlink, Starlight, thick client vs. server-based. Anybody have recommendations?

ctovision · 11 months ago

Jack,
I think all those challenges can be mitigated. With capabilities like Presto security challenges in classified environments are mitigated because of strong governance of who can touch what services and because of tight connection to enterprise security mechanisms and directories.
Endeca, from what I understand, usually does not have scaling problems, but unfortunately the government sometimes has program management problems. The right design and right leadership is always required, with every technology.
That is a very good point about the linking/viz apps market. It is very wide. I think I'll try to pull together an article on that.
Cheers,
Bob

Ricardo · 11 months ago

Interesting post