Fast-Growing Cloud Computing Market Under Threat, BSA Reports

SINGAPORE, Feb 22 (Bernama) -- Japan leads the world in cloud computing readiness with Australia in second place, but most Asia Pacific economies have more work to do to ensure its preparedness, a first-of-its-kind study by the Business Software Alliance (BSA) found. Launched on Wednesday, the study also found a sharp divide between advanced economies and the developing world in cloud readiness, with many developing countries showing the most room for improvement to integrate themselves into the global cloud market. The study also found that although developed nations are more "cloud-ready" than developing economies, obstacles remained in many of these developed economies, due to the lack of alignment in the legal and regulatory environments. Additionally, in order to capture the full economic potential of the cloud, all governments need to better harmonise their policies to facilitate the flow of data across borders. The BSA Global Cloud Scorecard establishes a first-of-its-kind ranking of countries’ readiness to drive the growth of a globally integrated cloud marketplace. The study benchmarks the cloud readiness of 24 economies that together account for 80 per cent of the global ICT market. It assesses laws and regulations in seven areas, namely, data privacy, cybersecurity, cybercrime, intellectual property, technology interoperability and legal harmonization, free trade, and IT infrastructure. The top five rankings for markets with the most robust cloud policies went to Japan, Australia, Germany, the United States, and France. Commenting on the report, BSA president and chief executive officer, Robert Holleyman said the true benefits of cloud computing come with scale. "In a global economy, you should be able to get the technology you need for personal or business use from servers located anywhere in the world. "But that requires laws and regulations that let data flow easily across borders. Right now, too many countries have too many different rules standing in the way of the kind of trade in digital services we really need," he added. Roger Somerville, BSA’s Senior Director for Government and Policy, Asia Pacific, said: "Many economies in Asia still have substantial work ahead to address issues involving infrastructure, promoting cloud computing across borders, permitting voluntary, industry-led standards and further improving existing laws and regulations to enhance their cloud preparedness." Nevertheless, he said the future looks bright for most Asian economies, as they have already started to recognise the vast potential gains in fully embracing the cloud. "A healthy national market for cloud computing does not necessarily translate into one that is attuned to the laws of other countries in a way that lets data flow smoothly across borders. "Countries that wall themselves off are doing real harm," he added. -- BERNAMA