Based on how fast today’s networks are growing, the U.S. government needs to find new ways to support data, Nextgov says. Otherwise, government agencies might face an influx of data by the end of the decade.
One solution to this, Nextgov suggests, is moving to edge data, something that commercial businesses are already doing. Edge computing is data processing that is completed at or near the source of “data ingestion,” which allows for processing in real-time. Using edge computing minimizes “the need to send streams of data over telecommunications networks and addresses the need for localized computing power,” Nextgov says. Edge computing will help when up to 40 percent of internet-of-things-created data is stored, processed, and analyzed at the edge of the network by 2019, says IDC research cited by Nextgov.
The benefits of edge computing:
The shift is simple: Nextgov says that edge computing can “act as a bridge” between legacy and modern government machines by preparing those machines to adopt the language of modern IoT devices and the cloud. As a result, government agencies can still use the machines they’re familiar with, but “get the results of more modern IT infrastructure.”
Better data protection: Because edge computing decreases the need to send data across telecommunications networks, the risk of a data breach decreases, too. Plus, end uses are able to pinpoint which data they need, and remove unwanted details, such as personal data, before it’s banked in the cloud. As a result, end users like government IT are able to boost their ability to protect their data, Nextgov says.
Save money: Nextgov says the biggest reason why government agencies are opting for edge computing is the amount of money they’re able to save doing it. For example, pulling from the Wikibon IoT project, Nextgov says, “processing IoT data through a combination of the cloud and edge systems is only 36 percent of the cost of cloud-only computing, saving government agencies money that can be used to modernize legacy machines that are typically seen as a barrier to innovation.” Plus, agencies won’t have to pay for higher capabilities in their cloud platforms due to edge computing’s ability to process data at the ingestion site, which saves computing space on cloud servers. This means more money in the bank for those who opt for this solution.
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[…] A 2017 report from Gartner Inc. also reports that about 10% of enterprise-generated data came from outside of traditional cloud computing centers; by 2022, that figure could soar to 50 percent, leading to a vastly decentralized structure—also known as edge computing. […]