The Esri ArcGIS Online platform is now authorized and accredited by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) as a secure platform for delivering cloud-based geospatial services. Following a rigorous assessment, the agency has granted ArcGIS Online a Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) low Authority to Operate (ATO). Esri, the GIS industry leader, now provides secure online GIS services to the USDA, giving the agency assurance that its data and applications are protected.
ArcGIS Online empowers users to create interactive web maps to share with whomever they choose, whether it is a specific group, an organization, or the public. The US government will use ArcGIS Online to host scalable tile services for broad public dissemination while leveraging its own agency accredited infrastructure feature services for hosting more sensitive information. Catalog services will enable public and federal government users to discover and mash up geospatial information hosted by thousands of participating organizations, including Esri basemaps, templates, applications, and developer tools. 
ArcGIS Online will extend and strengthen the government’s GIS platform through greater compliance with open data requirements and by making information and analysis widely available to the public. ArcGIS Online will support analysis, policy making, and planning across the agency, as well as foster valuable collaboration between federal government organizations. It will increase the productivity of government workers and, by exploiting cloud technology, better enable government agencies to surges in requirements and deliver cost savings.
Esri will maintain the ArcGIS Online FISMA ATO by monitoring and strengthening ArcGIS Online operations under USDA auspices, including annual third-party audits, vulnerability assessments, security reviews, and verification of policies and procedures. Most federal agencies use Esri’s ArcGIS platform but have yet to accredit their cloud-based geospatial services to FISMA standards. Esri welcomes the opportunity to work with agencies, the public, and private sector organizations desiring FISMA standards alignment, to implement secure geospatial services for them, building on the USDA accreditation.
For more information about ArcGIS Online, visit esri.com/agol.