HHS cloud plans, a key IT vacancy and talk of a cyber-specific service branch

Health agency wants Amazon cloud

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration plans to move its website and applications to an Amazon Web Services cloud, Washington Technology reports.

SAMHSA, a division of the Department of Health and Human Services, is seeking access to the AWS GovCloud, which is FedRAMP-compliant. “SAMHSA also wants an AWS Management console and complete initial configuration and setup, according to the sources sought solicitation released on Aug. 12. Responses are due Aug. 18.

Army mulls cyber-specific branch

Army Secretary John McHugh is considering setting up a cyber-specific branch in the service, a move that would equate cybersecurity with other Army career paths like infantry.

Such a branch would help build the service's cybersecurity expertise in the long run, Col. Carmine Cicalese, the Army's chief of cyberspace and information operations, told Federal News Radio. No decision has been made on whether to set up the branch, he added.

Global Network Initiative seeking new leadership

Susan Morgan will step down as executive director of the Global Network Initiative at the end of the year. She has led the group, which is backed by a who's who of technology companies and civil society groups, including Google, Microsoft, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and Human Rights Watch, since 2010.

GNI works to create a worldwide framework of privacy protection and free speech principles for the technology sector.

SEVIS by the Numbers

Immigrations and Customs Enforcement's latest data crunch from the Student and Exchange Visitor Program showed that, as of July 8, there were 966,333 international students enrolled in nearly 9,000 U.S. schools using an F (academic) or M (vocational) visa.

The top 10 countries of citizenship for international students were China, India, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, Mexico and Brazil. The University of Southern California, Purdue University, the University of Illinois, New York University and Columbia University rank one through five among U.S. schools with the most international students.

Seventy-five percent of all international students were from Asia, with 28 percent from China, according to ICE.

The findings come from "SEVIS by the Numbers," a quarterly report based on data from the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System -- a Web-based system that includes information on international students, exchange visitors and their dependents while they are in the United States.