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applications while main- taining the needed security controls.
How is SBA ensuring that it has a talented team of IT professionals who can take full advantage of new technologies? And what can other agencies learn from SBA’s approach? The IT workforce in gen- eral has not been able to keep pace with the rapidly changing technology land- scape. Cloud computing introduces a significant paradigm shift for the IT workforce.
By using models such as conditional access control, SBA’s cybersecurity program balances the business needs of an increasingly mobile workforce by providing them access to productivity tools and SBA applications while maintaining the needed security controls.
It is these insights that have the highest sig- nificance from a business perspective.
Often agencies collect data through their various programs but don’t have an enterprise approach to correlating and harnessing this data. When viewed from a program office per- spective, these collections provide a narrow view of the customers they are serving. Creating an enter- prise view allows stitching together a more holistic and richer view of the agency’s customers, thus forming a customer jour- ney map for the agency.
These customer journey maps are power- ful and provide insights into the overlaps and gaps in serving agency customers, which ulti- mately supports ini-
Recognizing this para-
digm shift, the SBA team
used multiple avenues to
help SBA’s IT staff learn
and acquire skills associ-
ated with cloud computing.
Those avenues included
overviews of products and
services provided by cloud service providers, lunch-and-learn sessions, online training sessions and class- room training sessions.
objectives of the TIC and CDM initiatives. This has helped inform updates to federal policies.
Also, SBA has shared its innova- tive, cloud-based approach with other agencies and has provided
a blueprint for other agencies to adopt.
With data becoming the currency of the digital
world, how can agencies
better protect and use the
data they’re collecting?
Data by itself has little value. It is when context is applied to data that data becomes information, which is valuable. Relevant information col- lections together form knowledge bases. Connecting various informa- tion collections provides correla- tions that ultimately enable insights to be drawn from these collections.
tiatives such as evidence-based policymaking.
These data collections are immensely valuable and as such require a commensurate level of security controls. SBA has imple- mented cloud-based cybersecurity tools that use machine learning and artificial intelligence to provide vis- ibility into activities such as when personally identifiable information is accessed or downloaded. Further, these tools also enable capabilities such as data loss prevention to help protect SBA data.
Strengthening the security and resilience of cyberspace is critical. The SBA team continues to look for and apply innovative techniques and models that provide adequate security controls while making data accessible for business use. n
Additionally, SBA’s CIO initiated an IT workforce study that involved conducting a current-state assess- ment and developing an implemen- tation plan, which is currently under- way. This plan helps address SBA’s IT workforce needs for today as well as the future.
SBA pioneered cloud adoption at pace in the federal government. It has also challenged the status quo for key federal cybersecurity initia- tives such as the Trusted Internet Connections and the Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation pro- grams. SBA has demonstrated the use of modern, cloud-based solu- tions to meet the overall goals and
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