Today’s warfighter needs and expects the latest information in order to complete their mission. But providing real-time access across the DoD Information Enterprise, particularly in tactical environments, has been a challenge. Find out how Google Search Appliance offers the DoD a way to break down information sharing barriers and give warfighters real-time access to the information they need to make confident decisions.

The wait is over! Google and DLT Solutions are proud to introduce Emergency Response Tools for Govies – a free eBook that explores how Google’s information management and collaboration tools help emergency management teams achieve unparalleled situational awareness before, during, and after a crisis.

Responding to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests can be a cumbersome and time consuming process for government agencies. It involves gathering massive amounts of data, redacting or removing sensitive information, and sending the required material to the requestor in a timely manner. For many agencies – especially in today’s budget and resource constrained environment – responding to FOIA requests has become an increasingly challenging process.

Government agencies around the country are adopting Google Enterprise Solutions to manage information securely, increase collaboration, and reduce search time. Learn from Google product experts how enterprise solutions help your agency overcome current challenges and stay compliant.

Bumper-to-bumper traffic is incredibly frustrating when you have no idea as to the cause of it. That’s the way it goes in the Washington, DC metro area! And, while I know there is construction and repair to the transportation arteries in and around the DC metro area, seemingly, I must have the world’s worst short term memory, because every day I get frustrated in my effort to get home. Until the other day… Speaking recently in Kansas, President Obama said, “I believe that this country succeeds when everyone gets a fair shot”. Hearing the President talk about the US facing “a make or break moment for the middle class”: I recalled from high school history class that middle class growth was at its greatest starting in the 50’s and throughout the 70’s. So, I got on the “Google Machine” and started searching for any information that would satisfy my curiosity about middle class growth during that 30 year period and its contributors. One of the biggest contributors to job growth and the rise of the US middle class was Infrastructure expansion. Two years ago the President signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law giving $46 billion for transportation projects, including $27 billion for highway and bridge construction and repair and $11.5 billion for mass transit and rail projects. Wow, I thought, this ought to create jobs and alleviate the congestion that causes me so much aggravation; that was 2 years ago!! What happened?

On Thursday, November 17, Google and “[acronym]’s sponsor, DLT Solutions hosted a live technology seminar at the Sheraton Denver West Hotel in Lakewood, CO. The Tech Day highlighted DLT Solutions’ partnership with Google to provide innovative technologies that help government agencies with Enterprise solutions. Google product experts spoke to Federal Civilian and State and Local government employees about how these modern technology solutions allow them to meet the current challenges of their agency.

On Thursday, November 17, Google and DLT Solutions are hosting a live technology seminar in Denver, Colorado. The Tech Day will be held at the Sheraton Denver West Hotel in Lakewood, CO. Government agencies around the country are rapidly adopting Google's enterprise solutions to manage information & promote teamwork, while lowering their IT costs. Learn from Google product experts how these modern technology solutions allow you to meet the current challenges of your agency. You will see, in a briefing and in demonstration, today's art of the possible and a compelling vision for the future!

The below blog was written by and published with permission by Steve O’Keeffe. Steve O'Keeffe is the founder of MeriTalk – www.meritalk.com – the government IT network. MeriTalk is an online community that hosts professional networking, thought leadership, and focused events to drive the government IT dialogue. A 20-year veteran of the government IT community, O'Keeffe has worked in government and industry. In addition to MeriTalk, he founded Telework Exchange, GovMark Council, and O’Keeffe & Company It seems amnesia is in fashion in D.C. OMB's data center consolidation admission that it stumbled across an additional 1,000 data centers was greeted by more smirks than surprise. Now that gives a whole new meaning to "government oversight." But, it seems that server farms aren't the only thing the Federal government's mislaying. According to a new MeriTalk study, "Uncle Sam's Lost & Found - $15.4B," Federal agencies are challenged to lay hand on information in their own databases and servers.

Can the government really save $15B by improving the way they search for documents? A recent survey of 300 federal employees, Uncle Sam's Lost and Found: $15.4 Billion, indicates that improvements can be made in several areas. The best place to start is with training, standards and the enforcement of standards. Sure, most agencies have established naming conventions, file storage procedures and a host of other ‘best practices’, but how often are these standards reviewed to ensure compliance? Focusing on some of these fundamentals will certainly improve the efficiency of file search. Unfortunately, training and standards will not fully resolve the challenge. One survey participant expressed the desire to have the ability to search for documents at work the same way they search for data at home – via search tools like Google. The benefits of a search appliance deployed within an agency are many. The search appliances are able to be customized to fit the agency needs, the interface is familiar, and the technology is scalable. The amount of data stored by organizations grows exponentially year after year, so the problem is only going to increase. Is $15B in savings a realistic number? The data suggests that the savings is just the tip of iceberg.