CompTIA Advises Federal Government on Technology Convergence

Woman uses smartphone and computer simultaneously

Eventually, computing technology will become so advanced and so highly integrative that each IT worker, perhaps equipped with a headset or special eyeware, will roll out of bed and connect to the company intranet before breakfast. Work will take place wherever you happen to be that day, using whatever tools are most convenient to that location. Except for the part about never actually being away from the office, you (or maybe your kids) are going to love it.

 

As the philosopher poet warrior henchman Kronk once observed, "It's all coming together." The 50-cent word for that is convergence, and CompTIA wants Uncle Sam to know that technology convergence is already in motion, and that the downhill slope to fully converged everything is only going to get steeper from here. CompTIA's philanthropic Creating IT Futures foundation conveyed that message to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy earlier this week.

 

Convergence, as CompTIA sees it, is a double-edged sword. The great meeting in the middle of personal computing devices, social media, cloud computing, big data, the Internet of Everything, and so forth, can provide powerful and critical advantages to both individuals and enterprises alike. At the same time, the headache for cybersecurity professionals only gets bigger as barriers to connectivity vanish, and privacy issues loom larger than ever before.

 

So you basically have the circumstance once envisioned by another enlightened thinker, Peter Parker's gentle Uncle Ben: "With great power comes great responsibility."

 

So although CompTIA is encouraging Uncle Sam to rush in where angels fear to tread, the Federal Technology Convergence Commission Report is also intended to be a reminder that, hey, yeah, there's probably a reason why angels fear to tread there. The report was compiled by the TechAmerica Convergence Commission, a body created under the auspices of CompTIA public policy entity TechAmerica. The report gives analysis and makes recommendations in six key convergence realms: International Outlook; Federal Public-Sector Community Impact; Convergence and the Individual Citizen; CIO Guideline; Workforce; and Procurement.

 

CompTIA CEO Todd Thibodeaux said in a statement to media that the report is intended to start a conversation. "These convergent technologies allow citizens to more easily communicate and engage with the government and quickly share ideas across the globe,"Thibodeaux said. "We see the Technology Convergence Commission Report as the first collaborative step between industry and the government to advance the adoption of emerging technologies."

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