[LINK] US Ambassador and Cloud computing

Jan Whitaker jwhit at janwhitaker.com
Wed Dec 12 09:19:34 AEDT 2012


[Although I understand his practical point from his economic 
perspective (not sure it's from an Australian perspective if we could 
get some economic benefit from local storage), what he seems to leave 
out of the equation is the imbalance of the US governance issues with 
regard to data protection and US over-reach under the Patriot Act. If 
he had at least mentioned it, his essay would have had a smidge more 
honesty in it. Perhaps one of our connected readers can put a note in 
the ambassador's box, reminding him there is more than an economic 
filter to apply to the TPP.]


Cloud agreement can bring blue skies

Jeffrey Bleich
Published: December 11, 2012 - 3:00AM

Whether we know it or not, we all use the global ''cloud'' for many 
of the critical things we do each day on our computers, tablets and 
mobile phones. This cloud, which is a set of powerful servers that 
can perform global computing services, will increasingly host 
Australia's and America's future. So now is the critical time to 
understand and embrace it.

Over the past decade, new technologies have revolutionised the 
ability of every person on Earth to generate, store, and retrieve 
unprecedented amounts of data. In fact, more than 90 per cent of all 
data that exists today was generated in just the past two years, and 
that pace is accelerating.

By 2015, most data will be in the cloud, where each of us can access 
it safely and cheaply. Already, just by tapping a few keys, we can 
Skype with overseas friends, get a satellite picture of a storm 
heading our way, buy a new iPad, or read the great works of the 
world's libraries.

And this is only the beginning. Australia, with its high-speed 
national broadband network, is poised to lead the Asia-Pacific in 
taking advantage of this next big wave of innovation, as long as we 
act together now to ensure a healthy cloud atmosphere.

By their nature, cloud services are not bound by borders. A cloud 
service provider located in Sydney or Silicon Valley has direct, 
immediate access to more than 1 billion broadband consumers in any 
part of the globe.

That is part of why Australia and the United States are both 
investing in broadband networks and data centres. Combined with the 
cloud, this sets our nations up for tremendous trade success, 
compared with nations that rely on older, slower, more expensive, 
less secure and less capable data systems. So we have a serious stake 
in ensuring US and Australian firms can use the best cloud services 
to reach foreign customers.

The biggest obstacle to this bright future is fear that fuels a 
growing ''cloud protectionism''.

Like people who once thought keeping their money hidden under the 
mattress was better than having it in a bank, some voices across the 
region, and even in Australia, have called for limiting the flow of 
data across borders, and requiring firms to install local data 
centres in each market to ensure local ''control''. This ''beggar thy 
neighbour'' protectionism would be just as self-defeating in the 
digital economy as in every other sector. In Australia, such 
restrictions would undermine the economic benefits the NBN would 
deliver by cutting off access to the highest quality, lowest price 
and most secure cloud services for businesses, government and 
consumers. While some local providers may get a windfall, everyone 
else would lose out.

One way to stop cloud protectionism is through the Trans-Pacific 
Partnership, or TPP. On Wednesday in Auckland, officials from 
Australia and the US will work with counterparts from nine other 
Asia-Pacific countries to craft this ambitious new trade agreement 
that seeks to integrate the economies of the Asia-Pacific.

This is a rare opportunity to set the rules of the road for regional 
commerce for generations to come.

The US President, Barack Obama, the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, 
and other TPP leaders have committed to making this a visionary, 
state-of-the-art agreement for the 21st century. To achieve this, the 
rules must provide clear skies for the cloud by ensuring data flows 
just as freely as goods, services and investment.

Cloud critics usually claim local data centres would somehow be 
better at protecting sensitive data from foreign hackers or snooping 
governments. But threats to privacy and security exist throughout 
cyberspace, regardless of whether data is stored in the global cloud, 
a server in the office basement or a hard drive on your home 
computer. Like keeping money under the mattress, keeping data ''at 
home'' not only deprives you of all the benefits the global cloud 
offers, but it is probably far less safe as well. What we want is not 
the best local solution for protecting our sensitive data, but the 
best global solution. The economies of scale enjoyed by the large 
cloud service vendors give them the resources and expertise to 
achieve far higher levels of security than you could with the servers 
in your IT closet. The TPP, moreover, gives us the chance to develop 
a common approach to protecting privacy that would serve well 
companies and consumers in TPP nations.

Together, the US and Australia can lead in this 21st century digital 
economy, and there is no better opportunity for doing so than 
adopting a TPP that reflects reality, and by dispelling unfounded 
fears so we can enjoy the full benefits of the cloud.

Jeffrey Bleich is the US ambassador to Australia.

This story was found at: 
http://www.theage.com.au/it-pro/government-it/cloud-agreement-can-bring-blue-skies-20121211-2b77f.html 




Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jwhit at janwhitaker.com
blog: http://janwhitaker.com/jansblog/
business: http://www.janwhitaker.com

Our truest response to the irrationality of the world is to paint or 
sing or write, for only in such response do we find truth.
~Madeline L'Engle, writer

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