The 8^th International Cloud Expo opens at the Javits Center in New York on Monday, June 6. The four-day event features seven tracks, plus numerous keynotes and special sessions.

One session that should draw a lot of interest will be Kevin Jackson's "What Does GovCloud Mean to the Global IT Industry?"

I've certainly expressed my reservations over the recent Obama Administration "International Cyberspace" initiative, the looming extension of the Patriot Act, and a recent National Strategy report from a Washington think tank that ignores technology.

But President Obama's Federal CIO Vivek Kundra and his team have developed a marvelous Cloud Computing strategy, one that should be emulated worldwide.

As Kevin Jackson notes, "In December 2010, the US Federal government awarded cloud computing contracts that totaled over $2B in value. It also announced a mandatory 'Cloud First' policy, requiring every agency to deploy at least three of its services to the cloud. This transition represents a monumental change in Federal IT strategy."

Kevin, by the way, is an Engineering Fellow with NJVC, a large IT solutions provider to the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD).

He promises that his session "will explore the economic impact of GovCloud from the position of the information technology and professional services industries. It will also explore the new business strategies for this new environment."

Sounds like a must-see session to me.

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