Former U.S. Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra is sounding off on governments' reluctance to adopt cloud computing due to privacy and information security concerns, noting the U.S. government's outsourcing of more than 4,700 systems "and yet when it comes to cloud for some reason these fears are raised," reports The Australian. In The New York Times, Kundra  writes that "governments around the world are wasting billions of dollars on unnecessary information technology," adding that cloud computing is often more secure than traditional methods. Taking part in a Digital Agenda panel on Wednesday, Kundra urged government officials to think about how they are serving constituents. "All that money's being spent on redundant infrastructure, redundant application that we're not able to optimize," he said. Meanwhile, Kundra's Digital Agenda co-panelist Vice President of the European Commission Digital Agenda Neelie Kroes said that while she agrees there are benefits to the adoption of cloud computing, the value depends on trust and security in the system, and there are cultural hurdles to overcome that will take time, ZDNet reports. Editor's Note: Navigate, an IAPP executive forum being held on September 14 in Dallas, TX, will feature a special program entitled Putting Cloud Computing on Trial to fully explore these issues.   
Full Story