This is the second part of a two part series.
Part 1: Can the UK become to Cloud Computing what Switzerland became to banking? (Part 1)
In the first part of this blog, I summised that the adoption of Cloud services was being dramatically slowed by a cultural reluctance to entrust personal or corporate data into the hands of unknown providers, particularly if those providers are located in a geographically separate state or territory.
This element of trust could be seized by a forward thinking country such as the UK, who has a strong Cloud infrastructure and could establish itself as the “trusted place for Cloud services”
The Swiss banking parallels
In 1713 The Great Council of Geneva, established regulations that required bankers to keep registers of their clients but prohibited them from sharing the information with anyone except the client-unless the City Council agreed with the need to divulge information.
This ground breaking law had a profound affect on peoples perception of Swiss banking, and enabled them to lead the world in being the safe haven for deposits.
In the same way, the UK could create an environment that gave concrete assurances to organisations wanting to host their data in the UK Cloud. For banking secrecy 300 years ago, now read cast iron data security, backed up by unparalleled levels of assurance regarding continuous availability.
Perception of Low Risk more important than privacy ?
In banking terms, privacy is a big deal if you have money you don’t want other people to know about, and unless you’re a criminal it’s highly unlikely anyone can ever find out about your account. For example, doctors who might be sued for malpractice might have money in a Swiss account to prevent them being totally wiped out in the event of lawsuit. Unethical, yes, but it happens. Really, anyone can have assets that they want to protect from attack. Sometimes, though, privacy isn’t the main reason people want a Swiss bank account. Switzerland has had an extremely stable economy and infrastructure for many years and hasn’t been at war with another country since 1505. Swiss bankers are also highly trained in investing and know how to grow your money.
In the same way, if the UK established a set of frameworks for qualifying Cloud service providers, it could establish a reputation for stability and know how to make the UK the safe choice. There are (as often evidenced on this blog) regular examples of catastrophic data security breaches all over the world. With the right investment and leveraging of existing skills and infrastructure the UK ciulkd leapfrog other countries to become the CLud location of choice.
Imagine in 10 or 20 years time if people and organisations around the world came to regard the UK as the safe haven for Cloud Computing. !!
