Tony Kontzer has a nice roundup of some recent developments in the cloud computing world, some of which have a direct tie-in to the government sector.

Interesting timing, since we're ramping up on a feature about federal government CIOs
in the age of Barack Obama. The basic idea is to look at their jobs today: inside an administration that seems to be emphasizing IT's role in improving all things government, are CIOs seeing change they believe in? Or is it just more of the same bureaucratic bunk as usual?

Awhile back, most of the headlines on President Obama and technology had to do with his BlackBerry, or his national CIO's forced leave during an FBI investigation of his former office.

Through all of that, though, federal CIOs had a job to do, and they began getting plenty of new direction. Cloud computing, mobility, consumer-focused technologies--all of these things figured in heavily. But what progress has been made?

Bob Otto, who's seen a whole lot in his decades in government IT, gives some perspective here. In a recent conversation, he said that Obama's IT vision still faces serious obstacles, not least of which being good old bureaucracy.

On the other hand, Joe Kraus, CIO of the GAO, sees plenty of opportunity. Kraus piloted a small Wiki project back in the late Bush 43 years, and now finds the new administration pushing for more. Now he's working on Twitter and YouTube feeds, and revamping the way GAO distributes its findings and reports using new and popular technologies.

Both agree that the government could become a new incubator of sorts for new/emerging technologies, as well as an employer of choice.

What do you think? What's the state of federal IT today? Is the Obama administration making any gains in pushing the vision preached by the president and his IT leaders?

I'm looking for as much input as possible, so don't hesitate to weigh in.