Today businesses expect to be able to consume information services via Cloud based software interfaces – that is, the "users" are not humans, but software applications that process the data and perform some useful function within the business. The rapid speed of technological innovation means that government agencies worldwide are challenged in terms of expertise in the development and maintenance of resilient Cloud services.
Whilst government directives and related ICT strategies correctly identify demand and the need for action, they offer little in terms of concrete steps for mastering the challenges posed by the variety and velocity dimensions of Big Data. Agencies need to:
Methodologies and techniques required to design and operate adaptive and resilient Cloud services have their origin in domain engineering and the DevOps movement. The MODA + MODE methodology addresses the challenges of variety and velocity head-on.
Large scale global Cloud data mining by governments in the US, Europe and China has led to concerns about industrial espionage and privacy. Open source code and appropriate tools are required to enable the public to police the code that implements privacy legislation and other laws.
There are two kinds of feedback loops in social-ecological systems that are often ignored:
Identifying feedback loops across different levels of scale is challenging in any domain involving complex systems. Typically experts focus on one particular level of scale and assume the next level up or down is well taken care of by experts in corresponding domains/disciplines. There is always room for improving inter-disciplinary collaboration.
The coordination of people, facilities, and resources is an ongoing challenge in a rapidly evolving economic and ecological context. Logistical capabilities represent the glue in the value cycle that includes suppliers, internal operations, and customers.