The push to embrace cloud-based technologies has undoubtedly transformed IT infrastructures at every level of government. Federal, state, and local agencies have made significant strides in modernizing how data is collected, stored, and analyzed, all in service of their mission and in fulfillment of strategic IT mandates. And there has never been more opportunity or need for government agencies to mobilize data to improve citizen services, streamline administrative and operational inefficiencies, further research and innovation, and support interagency collaboration and cooperation. 

However, there is one final hurdle that agencies face for data modernization: the simple act of sharing data. The processes for providing and receiving data have not matured alongside the IT investments of the past decade, creating data silos and governance headaches for agencies stuck with sharing data in slow, painful, and traditional ways. Despite the fact that sharing fresh information quickly and securely is mission-critical and in many cases required within every corner of the government, it has remained an unusually difficult task. 

Snowflake’s Data Cloud offers a new path for agencies struggling to overcome technical delays, policy roadblocks, and cultural status quos that hinder data collaboration. As a network that connects agencies, partners, data providers, data service providers, and other Snowflake customers, the Data Cloud enables agencies to instantly share data sets, not by copying or replicating the data, but through a simple, secure federation architecture. Through seamless and secure data sharing, Snowflake’s platform enables government entities to effectively eliminate silos within agencies, across departments and different levels of government, and across clouds.

Using the Data Cloud to mobilize data in support of mission-critical activities has widespread applications within government. Accelerating scientific research by empowering agencywide collective analysis, strengthening data collaboration between federal and state agencies, and serving public interest by improving live, secure data distribution to citizens and external consumers are just a few examples of how the Data Cloud holds the key to modernizing the flow of data and information across and beyond government lines. 

Finding a future-proof solution to the traditional ways of sharing data within government has become more pressing with the emergence of COVID-19. The state of California is using Snowflake’s platform to power a coordinated public health response by providing seamless, statewide data access to county officials, various state agencies, and residents with the goal of putting the freshest data in the hands of those who need it most. Additionally, California is leveraging Snowflake Data Marketplace to make fresh information about statewide cases, testing, case demographics, homeless impact, PPE logistics, and more available to the public. By leveraging the Data Cloud to address the urgent need for secure, unfettered access to all types of data, government entities finally have a simple and governed solution for disseminating essential information.

To learn more about Snowflake’s Data Cloud, tune into Snowflake’s upcoming Data Cloud Summit to hear Snowflake leadership, technology experts, and industry leaders discuss how the Data Cloud is enabling organizations to unlock untold value from the world’s data.