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Cloud &
Infrastructure CoP
Newsletter
GSA IT Modernization Division
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Notes from the Executive Committee |
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Happy New Year!
Thomas Santucci, Director, IT Modernization Division, OGP, GSA
I am thrilled to kick off this new year with the first newsletter of 2025! As we reflect on our community's achievements over the past year, I am inspired by the impact we’ve made in advancing technology modernization across the federal government. Among our many accomplishments, we initiated three new communities of practice, started this newsletter and upgraded our virtual conferencing platform. See our Year in Review for more information.
This year, we anticipate growth within our seven communities of practice: Cloud & Infrastructure, Low Code No Code (LCNC), Agile, IPv6, Workforce Development, IT Sustainability, and Interagency Collaboration. These groups are integral to our mission of fostering modernization and collaboration across the federal landscape. We are also looking forward to our upcoming conference this year. In addition to community building, our team is spearheading several initiatives for FY25, including:
- Developing a guide to assist federal agencies in efficiently and effectively adopting AI-related hardware.
- Piloting a project to facilitate interagency information sharing of assessment and authorization artifacts, enabling more streamlined system authorizations.
- Crafting an adoption guide for implementing and maintaining LCNC platforms, led by our LCNC Subcommunity of Practice.
Our thriving community of over 3,000 federal technology professionals is poised to embrace the opportunities and challenges that come with the incoming administration. Together, we will continue to grow, adapt, and innovate, leveraging our collective expertise to create a more efficient government while supporting our mission.
Here’s to a successful year ahead as we continue shaping the future of federal technology!
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New Trainings
Registration Is Open for Q2 No-Cost Training Courses!
Elevate your cybersecurity and cloud knowledge with our expert-led training courses this quarter. They include:
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International Information System Security Certification Consortium (ISC2) - Certified in Cybersecurity: Dive into the foundational principles of cybersecurity with this comprehensive course designed to kickstart your journey in the field.
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Azure Fundamentals: Gain essential knowledge about Microsoft Azure services, equipping you with cloud computing basics.
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Certificate of Cloud Security Knowledge (CCSK) Part 2: A continuation of the Part 1 session offered in December 2024, this Cloud Security Alliance training provides an in-depth exploration of cloud security concepts and practices.
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ISC2 Certified in Cybersecurity Exam Review: Enhance your exam readiness with this targeted review session, covering key topics and strategies for the ISC2 Certified in Cybersecurity exam.
Please see the Workforce Development Subcommunity section below to register for Q2 courses.
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New Working Group
Support the Development of a Guide to Assist Federal Agencies to Efficiently and Effectively Adopt Infrastructure to be AI-Ready
We are developing an agency guide to assist federal agencies in efficiently and effectively adopting AI-related hardware. Our goals for this guide include:
- Developing business cases for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC).
- Offering recommendations on leveraging cloud-based hardware infrastructure to support AI workloads or implementing AI-related infrastructure within agency data centers.
- Providing guidance on key considerations on different solutions, i.e. on-premise, cloud, or colocation.
We will hold sessions from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. ET on January 24, January 31, March 7 and April 11.
Interested? Please register to join.
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2024 Annual Community of Practice Member Survey
Thank You and Survey Results
We would like to extend a big thank you to our community for taking the time to fill out our 2024 Annual Community of Practice (CoP) Survey. We deeply appreciate your thoughtful feedback and were thrilled to see highly positive responses. Your input helps us continuously improve and we look forward to another fantastic year of providing events and resources to support your important work. Here's to another great year of collaboration and growth!
Review the results here.
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Industry Events
Federal IPv6 Task Force at Super Computing 24 Conference
Members of the Federal IPv6 Task Force, along with several stakeholders, convened during the Super Computing 24 Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, during the week of November 17. This meeting showcased a wide range of IPv6 deployments, from powering the world's most advanced supercomputers to leveraging IPv6 for innovative applications and communications.
The group had the opportunity to engage with Cisco at their state-of-the-art Atlanta facility and connect with representatives from academia and industry who are making significant advancements in IPv6 technologies. This event also provided a valuable platform for hands-on training and practical experience in configuring equipment and applications with IPv6.
On January 16, 2025, participants in the IPv6 Task Force Interagency Meeting delved into these accomplishments and outlined ways for others to get involved. One of our presenters, Tom Costello from Argonne National Laboratory at the Department of Energy, shared insights from his recent paper detailing the opportunities and achievements associated with IPv6 adoption.
Watch the a recording of the meeting!
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Cybersecurity Pilot Project
Interagency Assessment and Authorization Sharing Pilot Project in Process
The Chief Information Officers Council’s Enterprise Operations Committee is conducting a pilot project to demonstrate the feasibility and benefit of sharing Assessment and Authorization (A&A) artifacts between federal agencies.
Agencies can review a listing of over 350 systems from eight different federal agencies and then contact agency representatives to obtain relevant artifacts used for the assessment and authorization process. In only five easy steps, your agency can leverage the work already performed by other agencies to authorize the same system.
This pilot project will run through March 2025 and will provide a simple mechanism for our federal community to identify and access materials that can make the authorization to operate (ATO) procedure more efficient.
More details are on connect.gov. Please let us know if you have any questions or comments by reaching out to Thomas Santucci, Director of the Cloud & Infrastructure Community, at thomas.santucci@gsa.gov.
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Agile Subcommunity Meeting
February 13, 2025, 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. ET
Join us on February 13, 2025, for presentations and a discussion on common hurdles to embracing agility in the federal government and how to overcome them. Stay tuned for more information. Register here!
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IPv6 Interagency Meeting
Bimonthly Meeting
View the recording on our Zoom Hub to hear a recap of SCiNet 2024.
View the recording here!
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IT Sustainability Subcommunity |
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Upcoming Meetings
February Quarterly Meeting
Join us for our next quarterly meeting in February; date and time to be shared shortly. We will discuss Total Cost of Ownership and making the case for sustainable IT from a cost perspective. Register here!
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Low-Code No-Code Subcommunity |
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Upcoming Meetings
Quarterly Meeting
Our next quarterly community meeting will be today, January 23, 2025. Register here!
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Workforce Development Subcommunity |
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Our Q2 Schedule
Please find the following courses open for registration today below.
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Date
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Course Title
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Time (ET)
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Registration Link
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February 4, 2025
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ISC2 CC Exam Review
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9 a.m. to noon
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Register Here
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February 18 to 20, 2025
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Azure Fundamentals
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9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
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Register Here
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TBD
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SEC+ (USMC Pilot Course)
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TBD
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TBD
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TBD
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Cloud+ (USMC Pilot Course)
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TBD
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TBD
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Link (Clickable)
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Content Description
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Connect.gov
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Use this link to access:
- Meeting recordings and presentations.
- Links to all of the subcommunity of practice sites.
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Zoom Hub
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Use this link to:
- Register for one or more community meetings.
- View the upcoming meeting schedule.
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Listserv
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Use this link to:
- Join the Cloud & Infrastructure email listserv and receive regular community updates.
How to use this link:
- Send a blank email with no text in the body or subject and be added automatically.
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Team Contact
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Use this link to:
- Contact a member of the GSA coordination team.
- Provide feedback.
- Volunteer to present at a future meeting.
- Inquire about other communities or ongoing activities.
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Public Webpage
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Use this link to:
- Learn more about the community at large.
- View other subcommunities available to join.
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Please share this Cloud & Infrastructure CoP newsletter with your colleagues. They can use this link to subscribe.
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Thanks for reading! Questions, comments, or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you at dccoi@gsa.gov
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