Google has made a pitch for more government software business, unveiling a new suite of Internet-hosted calendar, email and other products that meets official US security requirements.

The Mountain View, California-based Web giant said the latest version of Google applications, or apps, for government had received US government certification under the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA).

Google program manager Kripa Krishnan said “Google Apps for Government” were the first “cloud”, or Web-based products to receive the FISMA certification, which outlines specific public sector policy and security requirements.

“This means government customers can move to the cloud with confidence,” Mr Krishnan said in a blog post.

Google’s move is seen as a direct challenge by the search and advertising titan to Microsoft’s ubiquitous Office spreadsheet, email, calendar and word processing programs.

Krishnan said Google Apps for Government had been designed with input from current government customers such as the cities of Los Angeles and Orlando and offer “significant cost savings.”