EN Official Journal of the European Union C 139/35

Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on ‘Unleashing the potential of cloud computing in Europe’

2013/C 139/07

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

— welcomes the Commission communication on unleashing the potential of cloud computing and the Commission's call for innovative technological solutions; agrees that the potential of cloud computing goes beyond technological progress in IT: it has a positive impact on the labour market, can improve equal opportunities and can create jobs;

— points out that one of the biggest barriers to use of cloud computing in the public and private sectors is uncertainty about what rules and regulations must be considered if a cloud computing solution is chosen, for instance national and European personal data protection law, social and health provisions and accounting rules. There are also certain issues and risks in relation to data protection that must be addressed;

— supports the three key actions proposed by the Commission but considers that these need to be supplemented by concrete measures focusing on raising user awareness, as this stimulates demand on markets, thus helping to strengthen Europe's position in global competition, and share the risks and benefits arising from the spread of this new technology more evenly between consumers and providers. These concrete measures should also focus on promoting IT education and culture;

— considers that the Commission should take steps to make existing clouds or clouds under development at national, regional and possibly local level interconnectable and interoperable, exploiting the potential for standardisation. Strong emphasis should be laid on compatibility of the abovementioned administrative registers.

Rapporteur Gábor BIHARY (HU/PES), Member of Budapest General Assembly Reference document Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions - Unleashing the potential of cloud computing in Europe COM(2012) 529 final

I. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

1. welcomes the Commission communication on unleashing the potential of cloud computing and the Commission's call for innovative technological solutions; agrees that the potential of cloud computing goes beyond technological progress in IT: it has a positive impact on the labour market, can improve equal opportunities and can create jobs;

2. at the same time, underlines the need to consider the impact that the spread of this new technology may have upon disadvantaged regions and social groups and therefore its possible adverse effects on territorial and social cohesion. For example, there is a risk that some local and global players will enjoy greater benefits from more easily accessible markets than others;

3. points out that one of the biggest barriers to use of cloud computing in the public and private sectors is uncertainty about what rules and regulations must be considered if a cloud computing solution is chosen, for instance national and European personal data protection law, social and health provisions and accounting rules. There are also certain issues and risks in relation to data protection that must be addressed;

4. regrets that the approaches to the public sector and the proposed partnership to promote cloud computing outlined fail to take proper account of local and regional authorities, even though many of their activities could provide useful lessons and examples of best practice for the strategy. The strategy also overlooks the fact that individual local and regional authorities are also involved as service providers in developing and operating cloud computing infrastructure;

5. underlines that, in order for Europe to make meaningful advances in cloud computing, coordinated action involving all levels of governance is crucial;

6. notes that in order for European businesses to be able to fulfil the role allotted to them by the strategy to make Europe a flagship it is imperative to develop forms of support within global competition;

7. considers that it is important to incorporate sustainability into the implementation of cloud computing, given that making better use of the capacity of IT tools will allow more effective use of resources; however, considers that the strategy needs to focus on the indirect impact in this area, as well as on increasing the share of renewable energy in powering cloud computing systems, among other issues;

8. points out that there is a long way to go between recognising the provisional existence of a ‘supercloud’ and implementing and applying that supercloud in such a way as to unleash its full potential. To this end, it is vital to raise consumer awareness through education and development of IT culture;

9. expresses its concern that the communication does not go into enough depth into links between the proposed strategy and other issues, such as secure data processing, copyright law as well as the development of data accessibility and portability;

10. stresses that the pace at cloud computing is rolled out could pick up once the measures needed for the Digital Agenda are in place. Although consumers are already using cloud services offered by providers as part of packages demanded by end users, experience has shown that people who use such technology carelessly and without adequate knowledge can pay the price, precisely because data is not properly protected and users lack awareness;

11. supports the three key actions proposed by the Commission but considers that these need to be supplemented by concrete measures focusing on raising user awareness, as this stimulates demand on markets, thus helping to strengthen Europe's position in global competition, and share the risks and benefits arising from the spread of this new technology more evenly between consumers and providers. These concrete measures should also focus on promoting IT education and culture;

II. DETAILED OBSERVATIONS AND PROPOSALS

Cutting through the jungle of standards

12. endorses the Commission's proposal on the standardisation process, while regretting that it is not based on an appropriate regulatory and organisational framework;

13. considers that it is important to supplement the proposed standardisation process with practical measures to enable identification in the cloud, for instance with regard to connecting up public administration registers;

14. is concerned that the Commission proposal does not take proper account of existing public-sector and market services nor of the service structures and infrastructure that they have made possible;

15. points out that one reason for distrust in cloud computing is the lack of regulation on data portability, with the resulting malfunctions;

16. draws attention to the need to define more clearly, as regards standardisation and certification, who will authorise certification bodies and how, and to decide whether certification rules will be drawn up at Member State or EU level;

Safe and fair contract terms and conditions

17. considers it important that the Commission wants to regulate contracts between service providers and users, with particular attention to placing constraints on service providers because of the potential for abuse of dominant position;

18. notes that, although users are calling for applications based on a single procedure for starting sessions for the sake of ease of use, these requirements should not be met at the cost of security, particularly in the case of financial transactions. It is imperative that these matters be regulated in the near future;

19. draws attention to the fact that much of the danger of cyberspace could be eliminated by an effective identification system which would enable users to establish the identity of cyberspace players;

20. points out that, although the cloud already offers impressive possibilities for disseminating audiovisual culture, the question of copyright and reproduction has yet to be settled;

21. welcomes the definition of common directives on data protection, a key issue when using cloud computing. Nevertheless, the Committee regrets that the Commission has not addressed the issues of online payment and invoicing, which will inevitably arise when using cloud computing for business purposes;

22. feels it is necessary to work out more detailed scenarios enabling services accessible via cloud computing to be evaluated, and to incorporate this evaluation into service contracts;

European cloud partnership, international dialogue

23. welcomes the idea of a European cloud partnership;

24. supports international dialogue on cloud-based services and considers that it is important to stress that, given the strong pace of development in this sector, there is a need for global harmonisation (both legal and technological) of strategies which have been or are being developed;

25. warns of risks to the protection of personal data when cloud computing servers are located outside of the EU;

26. considers that the Commission should take steps to make existing clouds or clouds under development at national, regional and possibly local level interconnectable and interoperable, exploiting the potential for standardisation. Strong emphasis should be laid on compatibility of the abovementioned administrative registers;

27. feels it is important to engage in dialogue with standardisation bodies (e.g. ISO, ETSI), which are also concerned with cloud computing;

Raising user awareness

28. is pleased that the Commission attaches importance to adapting public services to 21st century expectations, but nonetheless highlights the need to act swiftly to tackle the digital divide;

29. points out that the digital divide can only be reduced by targeted education. In a knowledge-based society, mastering technology is the key to getting to grips with and disseminating new technologies;

30. considers that 21st century Europeans need to be capable of taking ownership and making effective use of the technologies available to them. One good way to achieve this would be to build on the opportunities provided by the European Computer Driving Licence;

31. points out that technologically, cloud computing already supports wider use of e-learning. Addressing regulatory and copyright issues is necessary in order to ensure progress in this field;

III. FURTHER OBSERVATIONS AND PROPOSALS

32. considers that the Commission should support the public sector as regards developing principles for awarding tenders, but considers it important that, in regions whose development is lagging behind, this aid should not be limited to the development stage but should rather include the funding needed for use;

33. highlights that there is no way to unleash the potential of cloud computing without simultaneously developing the single market in telecommunication services, which requires European measures in the area of tariffs for roaming data exchange services;

34. feels it should be worked out in detail which government services must definitely be included in European cloud computing (for example with regard to identification).