Cloud hosting: European Commission to invest in cloud partnership
Friday 27th January 2012
The European Commission has signalled its commitment to cloud hosting by investing ten million euros (£8.3 million) toward a government-wide project to purchase cloud hosting products.
The European Cloud Partnership, which will bring together governments and industry and cloud hosting buyers and suppliers, will define common standards for cloud hosting procurement.
Industry figures have welcomed the cloud hosting commitment.
Neelie Kroes, EU digital agenda commissioner, said in a speech yesterday the cloud hosting project would: "Look at standards; it will look at security; it will look at ensuring competition, not lock-in."
The overall aim of the cloud hosting partnership is to encourage joint procurement by European public bodies and pooling of resources.
Ms Kroes stressed that the cloud hosting partnership is not about building a European 'super-cloud'.
"Cloud business models, and the set-up of cloud suppliers' and publicly-run data centres, should be determined by efficiency considerations on the market," she said.
Ian Brooks, European head of innovation and sustainable computing at Hewlett-Packard, said joint procurement could benefit technology companies and cloud hosting purchasers.
He told ZDNet: "It's clear from Neelie's speech today, [that] the region understands how cloud computing could transform business across Europe, helping stimulate innovation, driving higher levels of efficiency, forging new collaborations and creating new jobs."
Posted by Mark Greenhalgh