India slips two places in cloud computing preparedness: Report

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India lost four ranking points in cloud computing in the last two years, thereby indicating that the legal and regulatory environment for cloud computing in the country is restricting cloud innovation, according to a report by BSA | The Software Alliance's 2018 Global Cloud Computing Scorecard.

Germany scored the highest on the Scorecard due to its national cybersecurity policies and promotion of free trade, followed closely by Japan and the United States. Falling behind are nations that have failed to embrace the international approach: Russia, China, Indonesia, Vietnam and India.

In the last report which came out in 2016, India had a ranking of 18 among 24 countries. This has fallen to 20 this year.

BSA counts Apple, Microsoft, Adobe, Cisco, Amazon Web Services and IBM as members.

India has been speaking of leveraging cloud technology in a big way for government and private service delivery. In fact, the original Digital India presentation from 2014 mentions "shareable private space on a public cloud" as a core goal of the programme, along with providing a private space for citizens to store and access their documents on the cloud.
The BSA score card, which ranks countries' "preparedness for the adoption and growth of cloud computing services" also took into account their privacy and cybersecurity laws and broadband infrastructure.

The BSA scorecard notes that emerging markets continue to lag in the adoption of cloud-friendly policies, hindering their growth. For example, regulations that impose significant barriers for cloud service providers, data localization requirements, and a lack of cybersecurity protections.

High speed internet as a core utility is also one of the main goals of Digital India. However, broadband penetration, a big factor in furthering the use of cloud computing, continues to be dismally low in India, which was amongst the poorest performers in this section of the Scorecard, alongwith Vietnam and Indonesia, according to BSA.

"The ability of countries and companies to leverage cloud computing for growth requires access to a powerful network. While almost all countries continue to work to improve broadband access, the success of those efforts remains very inconsistent," said BSA in a statement.

Another factor that contributed to India's fall in ranking was a lack of adequate privacy laws. "Brazil and Thailand do not have comprehensive laws, and the laws in China, India, Indonesia, and Vietnam remain very limited," the BSA study notes.

While the telecom regulator made recommendations on the cloud services in India, a policy framework has been slow to be formed.

India was also among the lowest scoring countries in terms of intellectual property, which is essential to encourage investment in cloud research and development.

“The Scorecard is a tool that can help countries constructively self-evaluate their policies and determine next steps to increase adoption of cloud computing,” said Victoria Espinel, President and CEO of BSA, The Software Alliance.

“Cloud computing allows anyone to access technology previously available only to large organizations, paving the way for increased connectivity and innovation. Countries that embrace the free flow of data, implement cutting-edge cybersecurity solutions, protect intellectual property, and establish IT infrastructure will continue to reap the benefits of cloud computing for businesses and citizens alike,” she added.