”Many still hesitate before the Cloud,” Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie...

whether they can switch providers easily, and whether cloud contracts can be legally enforced, her written speech said. Issues such as standards, certification, data protection and interoperability are particularly nettlesome for smaller companies who stand to benefit most from cloud services but who lack the resources to negotiate individually with providers, she said. The European Commission is determined to overcome those barriers, she said. It has just proposed updated privacy laws but can do more, she said. Public sector information technology procurement is massive but fragmented; buying power can be harnessed through more harmonization, integration and joint procurement across borders, she said. That’s important because the cloud sector will “listen and adapt,” creating benefits for cloud adoption throughout Europe’s economy, she said. She invited public authorities and industry to join a “European Cloud Partnership” that will develop common standards, security and competition requirements for cloud procurement, and then deliver proof-of-concept solutions. The EC will launch the initiative with an initial investment of 10 million euros ($13 million), with first results due in 2013, she said. Later, public bodies on the local, regional or EU member level might find it useful to develop the system further to increase pooling of resources and, ultimately, joint procurement, she said. A similar program for the U.S. federal administration is in place, and a group of European scientific institutions is working on an analogous project, she said. But Europe faces a more complex landscape than the U.S., so it will take more commitment and energy to get there, she said. Kroes stressed the partnership won’t be a “European super-Cloud” but will be driven by market considerations.