Cloud Computing Projected to Grow the European Economy by 2020

It is interesting that some governmental bodies and national decision-makers are canvassing for the expanded use of cloud computing in their jurisdiction because of the relative economic gains it can bring to the regions. In October this year, the EU’s Digital Chief claimed that “greater use of the internet to store and process data remotely (cloud computing) could boost the European Union’s gross domestic product (GDP) by 160 billion euro annually by 2020”. Undoubtedly, this is a significant piece of encouragement that urges European business owners to migrate their digital data to the cloud. But how can this lead to national economic boost? There are four distinct ways countries in the European Union bloc can reap the full benefits of cloud computing: First, moving their data and other digital content to the cloud has the singular power of creating a cost-cutting possibility for European businesses. This is because the overhead IT expenditure incurred annually by these businesses will be drastically reduced.  They do not necessarily need to hire and constantly manage in-house IT infrastructure that may cost them billions of euro a year. Second, cloud computing structurally engenders business innovation. The capital saved on hiring, training and maintaining IT personnel and in-house infrastructure can be channeled into a new business venture. Companies that have adopted cloud computing often have new and improved business opportunities springing up. The significance of business innovations is that Europeans can concentrate on creating more jobs while expanding their businesses. Third, cloud technology also promises fastness and unprecedented speed of operations. The adopters of cloud technology can subsequently reduce or permanently abort downtime which plagued other companies that do not switch their operations to the cloud. Other problems non-adopters of cloud computing face include but are not limited to data loss tendency, poor connectivity, slow performance and ineffective IT system operations. All these problems naturally hinder smooth running of businesses; and if the situations are unmanaged, they may lead to huge business losses. Fourth, the EU’s digital Chief was mainly concerned about the competitiveness of the European economy when compared with those of other regions of the world. In her words, Neelie Kroes, EU Vice-president and digital Chief said that “without EU action, we will stay stuck in national fortresses and miss out on billions in economic gains.” This statement confirms her strong conviction that cloud computing possesses the capability of helping Europe revamp its economic stagnation and make the block competitive in the global economy. Since cloud computing entails using environmentally friendly systems, this attribute of cloud technology can assist Europe businesses to maintain an admirable culture of sustainability and business continuity. Cloud computing makes it possible to store, retrieve and transmit digital files without the hassle of using papers and other environmentally harmful materials. This development will help companies to operate with green and renewable energy resources. EU is calling all its constituting members to proactively embrace cloud computing because of the benefits highlighted above, and to create an environment for business continuity and higher profitability. The European Union’s digital chief appears quite serious about the danger of lagging behind in the adoption of cloud technology. Hence, she sounded a warming to all EU member states to adopt, implement and innovate on the usefulness of cloud technology. The main purpose for this clarion call is to make the bloc highly competitive with the North America, Asia and the Pacific which are seriously exploring and utilizing the opportunities offered by cloud computing. This is definitely going to be a gradual process, but EU’s digital chief has no doubt that cloud technology can help turn around the slugging European economy.

Be Part of Our Cloud Conversation

Our articles are written to provide you with tools and information to meet your IT and cloud solution needs. Join us on Facebook and Twitter.   About the Guest Author: Jerry Olasakinju, a Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) degree holder, is a passionate researcher and writer whose interest in everything computing is unparalleled. He blogs about his literary works at http://jerryolasakinju.blogspot.jp/