As used in this subpart—

Authorizing official, as described in DoD Instruction 8510.01, Risk Management Framework (RMF) for DoD Information Technology (IT), means the senior Federal official or executive with the authority to formally assume responsibility for operating an information system at an acceptable level of risk to organizational operations (including mission, functions, image, or reputation), organizational assets, individuals, other organizations, and the Nation.

Cloud computing means a model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction. This includes other commercial terms, such as on-demand self-service, broad network access, resource pooling, rapid elasticity, and measured service. It also includes commercial offerings for software-as-a-service, infrastructure-as-a-service, and platform-as-a-service.

Government data means any information, document, media, or machine readable material regardless of physical form or characteristics, that is created or obtained by the Government in the course of official Government business.

Government-related data means any information, document, media, or machine readable material regardless of physical form or characteristics that is created or obtained by a contractor through the storage, processing, or communication of Government data. This does not include a contractor's business records (e.g., financial records, legal records, etc.) or data such as operating procedures, software coding, or algorithms that are not uniquely applied to the Government data.

Information system means a discrete set of information resources organized for the collection, processing, maintenance, use, sharing, dissemination, or disposition of information.

Media means physical devices or writing surfaces including, but not limited to, magnetic tapes, optical disks, magnetic disks, large-scale integration memory chips, and printouts onto which information is recorded, stored, or printed within an information system.

[80 FR 51743, Aug. 26, 2015, as amended at 81 FR 72999, Oct. 21, 2016]