Google addresses US government's cloud security fears
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Search giant launches high security version of online apps for US government agencies after missing LAPD project delivery deadline over security issues
Google has launched a high security version of its web-based applications designed specifically for US government agencies.
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The Google Apps for Government package adds extra security and policy control measures to its existing web-based email, word processing and spreadsheet application suite, and has received certification for public sector use under the US Federal Information and Security Management Act.
The applications are based on what Google describes as a "community cloud" for government, whereby data is stored “in a segregated system located in the continental United States, exclusively for our government customers”.
Last week, it emerged that Google had failed to make a project delivery deadline in a $7 million Google Apps contract with the Los Angeles Police Department. The LAPD said the company was unable to meet its security requirements in time.
The UK government's plan to build a shared cloud computing infrastructure – the so-called G-Cloud – is on hold pending greater clarification of public sector IT spending plans, Intellect's Ian Osborne told Information Age's Future of the Data Centre conference last month.
