Author Archive
Michael C. Daconta
Digital Government
Fears and fantasies about artificial intelligence
Despite the controversy it sparks, artificial intelligence is no longer an exotic rarity that only thrives in research labs and ivory towers; instead, AI applications are becoming mainstream in the public and private sectors.
Infrastructure
Why Docker is disruptive
Application containers like Docker will simplify application deployment across multiple platforms, including across multiple cloud providers.
Digital Government
Is unit testing of software a waste of time?
The integration of testing into the coding part of the development lifecycle is a good thing, but don't go too far by fostering a brute-force, test-first and test-everything approach.
Infrastructure
The fallacy of 'fog computing'
Cisco’s fog computing is an ill-conceived marketing metaphor that further confuses the cloud market.
Digital Government
Data transparency takes center stage
In the last few weeks, talk of data transparency is working its way into the national (dinner) conversation.
Infrastructure
Irrational exuberance over cloud standards
Standards are vital to both cloud security and cloud interoperability, but it is foolish to think that an agency can influence the pace of technological maturity by policy or fiat.
Infrastructure
In the cloud, Linux will win the OS war
For operating systems, you cannot beat Linux's high reliability and low cost.
Digital Government
Buzzword engineering, or the curse of Nicholas Carr
A good technical advisor can keep government managers from the consequences of ‘buzzword engineering.’
Digital Government
JSON vs. XML and the impact of design decisions
IT architects must understand their environment and requirements before they can wisely choose the programming tools that best meet their system or enterprise needs.
Cybersecurity
DARPA's dielets and the prominence of provenance
DARPA is using data provenance to track counterfeit electronic parts infiltrating the military supply chain.
Digital Government
Hadoop: The good, the bad and the ugly
Government IT managers should be wary of technology overreach and focus on Hadoop's known success areas.
Featured eBooks
Digital Government
HealthCare.gov set poor requirements. Here's how to avoid the same trap.
Poor requirements definition for HealthCare.gov led to consumer confusion in signing up for Affordable Healthcare Act insurance.
Infrastructure
Linked data takes a leap forward
The new version of the W3C Resource Description Framework will help government data managers publish their data as effective and usable linked data.
Digital Government
Stop the fear mongering over ICD-10: It's just another taxonomy
The complaints about the upgrade to ICD-10 health care codes illustrate common misconceptions about the organization and characteristics of big data sets.
Digital Government
What data architects can learn from food labels
When the FDA and the First Lady recently proposed revised food labeling, they were refactoring information – a low-cost mission multiplier government IT managers can replicate.
Digital Government
Big data is just a stepping stone
Government IT managers need to shift the focus from the data producer to the data consumer and zero in on information extraction.
Infrastructure
Cloud hosting is not (really) cloud computing
Agencies that resort to half measures in moving to the cloud will receive marginal benefits compared to those who use cloud-native applications.
Digital Government
Don't go chasing waterfalls … or programming languages
A programming language is a tool to achieve your agency's business objective; so be wary of the latest fads in niche programming languages.
Digital Government
Reduce IT failures with good CONOPS
A detailed concept-of-operations document will reduce IT failures because it has the ability to guide the development of the IT system.
Digital Government