The way we design, build, and manage infrastructure is undergoing a significant shift. Across the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry, teams are responding to stricter sustainability requirements, a shrinking skilled labor force, and the long-term impacts of hybrid and remote work. Concurrently, infrastructure demand is surging, and digital technologies are evolving faster than ever.
Though digital project delivery has emerged as a powerful tool to meet these challenges, for public works projects, adopting cloud-based solutions isn’t just about modernization—it’s about ensuring trust and accountability. That’s why the federal government launched the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP®)—a framework designed to meet stringent regulatory requirements and accelerate the secure adoption of cloud technologies across public sector projects.
Unfortunately, although a number of FedRAMP authorized cloud services are available, none have been specifically tailored to meet the complex needs of AEC workflows—until now.
In a recent webinar entitled, “Bring the Power of the Cloud to your Federal Building Projects,” Jack Hsueh, Strategy Director for Digital Project Delivery at Autodesk, led a discussion with Max Blumenthal, Regulatory Security Manager, and Wes Newman, Technical Solutions Executive at Autodesk, to explore Autodesk for Government, the newly FedRAMP authorized cloud platform designed for public sector AEC workflows.
Federal authorization journey
The process put in place to ensure that all cloud solutions adopted by the government are secure has created a new challenge. As noted by Blumenthal, “One of the main challenges that government agencies face… [is] getting a solution certified and authorized for use, [which] becomes a detriment to the mission. It slows down the ability to enable the work we all need to do, and that’s where FedRAMP comes in.”
In an effort to mitigate this challenge, Autodesk partnered with the General Services Administration (GSA) and Coalfire—a third-party assessment organization (3PAO)—to gain FedRAMP authorization for a new government cloud-based software called Autodesk for Government, which includes Autodesk BIM Collaborate Pro for Government and Autodesk Docs for Government.
“[Autodesk Docs for Government] allows people to do design reviews simultaneously on the model. So, you’re not using PDFs and marking them up independently, putting them into a spreadsheet, and then emailing them back and forth [between stakeholders]. Everybody is looking at the same model; everyone can see who has created what issue and if you’re creating the same issue twice.” –Wes Newman
Securing that authorization, however, involved a rigorous and highly detailed process to ensure the software met federal security standards. According to Blumenthal, “We had to put together [an] 1,000-page system security plan detailing all of the different security controls we’ve had to implement. [For example], annual audits, red teaming, pen testing, a customer responsibility matrix, and continuous monitoring help to ensure we meet the security needs of federal agencies while expediting that authorization process.”
With FedRAMP authorization secured, government agencies can now adopt essential solutions designed to improve workflows and increase information sharing—a challenge almost as serious as security for many public sector organizations.
Unified project platform
Everyone involved in a large government infrastructure project needs access to the project data relevant to their scope of work. This often entails distributing designs and other project data between various teams after completing each project stage.
This can lead to version confusion, long review processes, and data becoming siloed within a single organization and not shared with other departments due to the use of different applications.
With solutions like Autodesk for Government, agencies now have a trusted, FedRAMP-authorized platform designed specifically to support the way the public sector plans, designs, and builds for the future.
According to Newman, “[Autodesk Docs for Government] allows people to do design reviews simultaneously on the model. So, you’re not using PDFs and marking them up independently, putting them into a spreadsheet, and then emailing them back and forth [between stakeholders]. Everybody is looking at the same model; everyone can see who has created what issue and if you’re creating the same issue twice.”
“The heart of digital project delivery is the Common Data Environment (CDE)…” explained Hsueh. “This cloud-based repository for all project information enhances collaboration and reduces errors by providing a unified platform where stakeholders can work together seamlessly, accessing the most current files, models, and data. Autodesk Docs for Government is the CDE that’s a single cloud-based solution for storing and managing all project files across the entire lifecycle.”
As public infrastructure projects grow in complexity and urgency, the need for secure, collaborative, and purpose-built digital solutions has never been greater. With solutions like Autodesk for Government, agencies now have a trusted, FedRAMP-authorized platform designed specifically to support the way the public sector plans, designs, and builds for the future.
