July 6, 2011 — Data center operator Horizon Data Center Solutions announced on Tuesday that it has received the “Authority to Operate” as a cloud computing provider to the federal government. The government has made a commitment to move its services to the cloud as part of its Cloud First policy. This announcement comes almost a month after the US government’s first chief information officer, Vivek Kundra, resigned.

Nearly everything unchanged at the top as regards the cities and administrative districts with the largest numbers of domains per capita in Germany: With 591 .de domains per 1,000 inhabitants, the city of Osnabrück effortless holds its leading position among incorporated German cities. Among the administrative districts, Amberg-Sulzbach (715) still is first, preceding Freising (399) and Starnberg (357).

A video from Horizon DCS’ website shows CEO Lance Black (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) – Colocation firm Horizon Data Center Solutions ( www.horizondcs.com ) announced on Wednesday that it has teamed up with TKC Integration Services ( www.tkcis.com ) to provide cloud computing solutions to government agencies through a NASA SEWP IV (Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement) contract. TKCIS is a contractor in the Washington, D.C. area that provides a range of lifecycle technology solutions to the federal government.

A screen shot of the newly launched Equinix-Carpathia website (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — Colocation provider Equinix ( www.equinix.com ) and Web hosting provider Carpathia Hosting ( www.carpathia.com ) announced last week that they will jointly sell and market to federal agencies, financial and healthcare enterprises with “high security and data protection needs.” The joint services offered by Equinix and Carpathia will let organizations deploy colocation, managed services and cloud solutions in a secure, compliant environment that meets strict requirements and prevents the risk of data loss or privacy breaches.

A chart that depicts the number of data centers by federal agency (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — In its 2012 federal budget proposal, the Obama administration has asserted that cloud computing and data center consolidation will play a significant role in curbing IT costs. The administration’s proposal allocotes $79.5 billion for IT costs for fiscal 2012, which begins October 1, which would be a 1.9 increase over fiscal 2010. Meanwhile, the current fiscal year’s IT spending is currently under Continuing Resolutions, with the  latest resolution gives the Federal government enough funding to run through March 4.

The GSA’s new Apps.gov initiative is designed to provide storage, virtualization, and Web hosting solutions to all levels of government in the US.

The Republicans in the US are working hard to keep the UN’s mitts off internet governance, with Rep. Mary Bono Mack, R-Calif., reintroducing “a nonbinding resolution calling on President Obama to oppose any efforts by the United Nations to take over governance of the Internet,” reports Tech Daily Dose.