CIO news roundup for week of May 8
SearchCIO was in Boston seeing what’s new with the OpenStack platform. Here’s what else made the news rounds:
Microsoft talks up edge devices, planet-scale cloud services. The annual Microsoft Build 2017 brought a spate of announcements, including a first look at Azure IoT Edge — a technology aimed at extending the benefits of cloud computing to edge devices. Here’s a briefing from Sam George, partner director at Azure IoT: “When IoT devices start running cloud intelligence locally, we refer to them as “IoT edge” devices. … Azure IoT Edge enables IoT devices to run cloud services, process data in near real-time, and communicate with sensors and other devices connected to them, even with intermittent cloud connectivity,” he wrote in a blog post. The company also unveiled a multi-model database coined Azure Cosmos DB, which will help power “planet-scale” cloud services and applications. “As cloud-based applications increasingly scale, reach global users, and power AI experiences, we have come to a place where we need data at planet scale … Tapping into Azure Cosmos DB gives them planet scale, so they can keep focused on growing their business,” Scott Guthrie, executive vice president of the cloud and enterprise group at Microsoft, touted in a blog post.
Google’s VR push. Google is acquiring Austin, Texas, virtual reality game studio Owlchemy Labs, the search giant revealed Wednesday. “Together, we’ll be working to create engaging, immersive games and developing new interaction models across many different platforms to continue bringing the best VR experiences to life,” Relja Markovic, engineering director of VR and AR at Google, wrote in a blog post. With additional support from Google, Owlchemy will continue to build VR content for platforms like the HTC Vive, Oculus Touch and PlayStation VR, chief executive Alex Schwartz and CTO Devin Reimer wrote in a blog post.
Trump signs cybersecurity executive order. President Donald Trump signed a cybersecurity executive order Thursday, aimed at strengthening the federal government’s cybersecurity efforts and protecting the country’s critical infrastructure from cyberattacks. The order was originally expected to be signed in January, but was pulled back to allow for more input from federal agencies and consultation with experts. The order directs all heads of federal agencies to adopt cybersecurity policies drafted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and prepare a report within three months explaining how they will implement the framework. The executive order states that federal agency heads will be held accountable for implementing cybersecurity risk management processes and for ensuring that those are “aligned with strategic, operational, and budgetary planning processes.” It also calls for cybersecurity workforce development and for working with the private sector to develop better strategies to prevent attacks from botnets.
Assistant editor Mekhala Roy contributed to this week’s Searchlight.