ROUNDUP 30/2012

Here is this week's selection of links pointing to what might be driving cloud research and innovative new services. This weeks topics are about new services to manage multiple clouds, the ongoing search for "sensemakers" (aka analysts) and innovative platforms to re-think government using digital cloud services. 
 
But see for yourself...
 
Managers to manage the cloud
According to the National Institute of Standards, a Cloud-Management Broker (CMB) “provides a cloud-user a unified and enhanced management interface to multiple cloud-providers.”
Source: Forbes
 
Teambox Adds Features for Consolidating Collaboration Efforts
Teambox offers a consumer/user option to manage multiple cloud storage services and collaboration features in one place. Currently integrates Dropbox, Box and Google Docs. 
Source: Small Business Trends 
 
Why The Search For The Mystical Data Scientist Should Not Be A Feat Of Magic

"The data scientist is a mystical spirit. A wizard, whose skills are fired in the deep unknown of a developer’s lair. Their secrets are worth the gold of a million empires.They possess the keys to eternity.They have pet dragons."

Besides the funny lead, the article has a point by mentioning that any organization seeking people with skills to make sense of big data should know what to look for: 

"What companies need to do better is look at the overall data professional market. By doing that they may find that the person they seek is not necessarily a developer with pure technical skills.  More so it may be someone who has a mix of business skills with an understanding of big data and the applications needed to realize the right findings and overall return for the company."

Source: Techcrunch
 
Gigabit Cities – Platform for Digital Government Innovation
Gigabit Cities rounds out this Digital Government strategy through a focus on investing in the network layer, open content sharing protocols and even providing office facilities for entrepreneurs.
Source: Web2.0 Journal 
 
Hack of tech journalist reveals flaws in cloud security

"Merchants, banks, media companies and social networks require varying amounts of information to open and access online accounts. Many ask for only a few bits of information to make changes, such as resetting a password. That makes it easy for hackers to abuse the prevailing systems, which rely on asking users to answer questions."

Source: USA Today