U.S. intelligence community to begin using Amazon-developed cloud service

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At the request  of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), with a $600 million grant, Amazon Web Services have put the finishing touches on a secure cloud-computing system for all seventeen intelligence networks. The system is expected to revolutionize the way each agency functions with one another.

As Defense One reports, for the first time the new network will allow all agencies within the intelligence umbrella to access a variety of on-demand services and analytic abilities straight from the CIA and National Security Agency (NSA).

The cloud will operate behind the intelligence community’s (IC) firewall — serving as a public utility within a private sphere. The network will have a variety of on-demand services including analytics systems, storage, and additional computing power. Agencies will only pay for the services they use, leading to massive savings over time.

According to HomeLand Security News Wire over the next ten years, as Amazon introduces new innovation and improvements to available technology, the IC cloud will also be upgraded.