Page 17 - CARAHSOFT, November/December 2020

With context-rich, multimedia collaboration tools on our mobile platforms, we have been able to drive an integrated approach to remote work.
Learn more at Carah.io/
Administration will allow FEMA
to leverage commercial cloud and
edge solution designs to enhance our disaster preparation and responsiveness missions.
Over the next several years, we will direct investments toward meeting these edge computing needs as part of our global technology roadmap.
What benefits are you seeing, and have any of them been unexpected?
With context-rich, multimedia collaboration tools on our mobile platforms, we have been able to drive an integrated approach to remote work. The unexpected surprise is the speed
at which change is being embraced through technology enablement and how quickly workflows are being developed to achieve mission accomplishments.
This was all accomplished while under the immense pressure of managing the COVID-19 responses, coupled with responding to the recent wildfire and hurricane incidents.
What role does edge computing play in FEMA’s overall IT modernization efforts?
Edge computing enhances our overall modernization and innovation strategies to ensure that our architectures and designs are flexible enough to support the deluge of data permeating our work.
Outside our workforce endpoint devices, we are seeing a greater utilization of edge computing capabilities in the broader emergency
management community. Our state, local, tribal, commonwealth and territorial partners — including the private and nonprofit sectors — are all increasingly adopting smarter devices where edge computing is typically developed organically from the
“ground up.”
How do you expect edge computing — and FEMA’s use of it — to evolve?
It is hard to predict the future, but
we can foresee the inclusion of edge computing capability in our out-year modernization projects so that we can start leveraging machine language and artificial intelligence innovations for enhanced disaster preparations and response.
Although the cloud and its capabilities remain very important, the notion of central processing is changing, and we must keep pace.
One of the major implications of edge computing is its relationship
with the broader concept of zero trust networking and trusted computing. Zero trust models operate under the assumption that the connected network is already compromised, so every single endpoint must effectively become a cybersecure device.
In effect, when standing up a zero trust network and where the network is untrusted, then all endpoints become edge devices. The implications are profound for how we view the future of FEMA IT.
In other words, even virtual private cloud instances should also be
considered “edge devices.” This idea has an enormous implication for how we view internal, on-premises data centers. In the coming years, there will, in effect, be no center from an advanced cybersecurity perspective. Everything will be on the edge because the immutability of any core network should always be viewed with concern and skepticism.
Therefore, to build an immutably secure network, that network must become zero trust in nature and all endpoints must be viewed as edge devices, including computing instances or servers deep in the heart of a government data center.
What advice would you offer other agencies that are considering edge computing?
Ensure that your enterprise’s architecture is extendable and that you can quickly allocate, compute and store power as needed.
And be aware that shifting from a traditional IT infrastructure that is dependent on centralization to an edge computing-centric IT infrastructure requires unconventional thought leadership.
One lesson we are learning at FEMA is that if the core IT infrastructure — including extensions into cybersecure cloud computing platforms — is not properly modernized and supported, it will be much harder to develop mission-critical use of edge computing devices. Basically, if the core infrastructure is not sound, you really can’t have the edge.
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