Bruton announces 'cloud' steering group

Minister for Enterprise Richard Bruton has announced plans to establish a cross-Government implementation group to examine how best the public sector can adopt the latest cloud-computing technologies.

The proposed group, which is scheduled to hold its first meeting next month, will include representatives from Government departments as well as the Data Protection Commissioner, the IDA and Enterprise Ireland.

Mr Bruton said it was crucial the Government, as a major user of IT in the economy, took a lead in this area in order to provide “opportunities and economies of scale for growing businesses in this sector”.

“Ireland is extremely well-placed to take advantage of the rapidly-growing international potential of cloud computing,” he told a conference on the new technology, organised by Public Affairs Ireland, in Dublin this morning.

He cited a recent report commissioned by Microsoft which estimated that by 2014 the cloud computing industry in Ireland could be worth €9.5 billion and employ 8,600 people.

The economic downturn made it more urgent than ever “to seize the efficiencies” offered by the latest technologies, Mr Bruton said.

Data Protection Commissioner Billy Hawkes earlier told delegates that a key challenge for agencies embracing the technology would be to guarantee the safety and security of personal data.

Mr Hawkes said there was a paradox at the heart of the new technology in that holding data in the “cloud” could be both a risk and a protection.

“The massive concentration of data in the ‘cloud’ is an invitation to attackers; but such concentration can provide the economies of scale that justify expenditure on more robust security,” he said.

Organisations wishing to outsource sensitive data needed to get assurances from “cloud” providers on issues such as the robustness of access controls, data back-up systems and procedures in the event of data breaches, he said.

Equally, “Cloud” providers would have to remain vigilant to the security obligations imposed on data processors by various jurisdictions, Mr Hawkes said.

In 2006, a Belgium-based interbank network Swift was found to have violated European data protection laws by passing details of banking transactions, under subpoena, to the US government.