The US government has taken a giant leap into the cloud, a move that it hopes will increase efficiency, improve security and save money.
Recovery.gov, the government website where Americans can access data related to Recovery Act spending, has officially moved to a cloud-computing infrastructure. The switch went live at 21.48pm on 26 April, using Amazon's EC2 service, according to the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, which oversees Recovery.gov, according to a statement.
The immediate cost savings will be more than $330,000 (£226,000) in fiscal year 2010 and $420,000 in fiscal year. But there will also be other savings too, the agency said, noting that there is no longer a concern about or expense of an underlying datacentre or computer equipment.
For more on this story, see Washington jumps into cloud, moves Recovery.gov to Amazon EC2 on ZDNet.com.