The U. S. government is increasing its effort to consolidate its data centers and now expects to close at least 1,200 data centers, or about 40% of federal government IT facilities, as part of an effort to streamline its IT infrastructure.  According to Steven VanRoekel, the federal CIO, the data centers being closed or consolidated “represent billions in wasted capital that could be better used to improve upon critical services for American taxpayers.”

It is too soon to tell what impact, if any, these closures will have on the availability of government information resources that are relevant to our curriculum and student research interests.  A list of data centers targeted for closure is available at Data.gov