Exploring the Future of Cloud Computing Phase II

Project Overview

The first part of a two-part project to explore the potential impact of cloud computing
was completed in 2009. Our research found that cloud computing has tremendous
potential to benefit businesses, industries and entire economies. However,
substantial challenges stand in the way

To overcome the barriers and accelerate the adoption of cloud computing, our research
participants suggested some potential actions that the IT industry and governments could
consider

In phase two, we aim to identify more specific action items and develop
recommendations for both the IT industry and governments to help mitigate the
uncertainties and realize the benefits of cloud computing

Exploring the Future of Cloud Computing

How to Accelerate the Benefits of Cloud Computing

Last year, the World Economic Forum completed the first part of a two-part research project to
explore the potential impact of cloud computing. The project was mandated in 2009 by the IT
Governors at the Forums Annual Meeting in Davos. The experts who participated in the research
believe the impact of cloud technologies goes beyond reducing IT costs and improving business
efficiency. They predict that companies of all sizes and government institutions in both established
and emerging economies will achieve new levels of productivity and innovation. They believe the
cloud industry will be a key source of new jobs and that it could help nations make great gains in
addressing major healthcare, education and other societal issues.
However, cloud technologies can also introduce disruption and pose potential risks - with many
organizations hesitating to embrace cloud computing. Through our research, we found there are
significant concerns about security, privacy, interoperability, governance, vendor lock-in,
outdated/complex laws, and users lack of understanding of cloud computing.
To overcome the barriers and achieve the potential of cloud computing, participants from the
research began exploring actions the IT industry and governments could undertake. Examples
include educating customers about the benefits of cloud, creating standards and policies that
enable easy switching among cloud providers, providing transparency on where data is stored
and processed, investing in new technologies for improving security and privacy, providing better
public access to national data, and many more.
Project Objectives
During the first phase of this project, we began identifying potential areas of interest and action for
industry and governments to consider in order to achieve the full potential of cloud computing.
In phase two, we will build on the recommendations and develop more specific action items for
industry, public policy makers and government to take to help mitigate the uncertainties and
accelerate the benefits of cloud computing.

Approach
Building upon the findings from the phase one of this project, we will focus on developing a set of
actionable strategic options and policy recommendations by:
1) Orchestrating and facilitating dialogues between private and pubic sectors and across
regions to prioritize key issues
2) Leveraging use cases and/or building scenarios to identify gaps/challenges in realizing the
benefits of cloud for both the industry and governments
3) Coordinating the development of position papers to provide recommendations
May 2009

Jan 2010

Jan 2011

Phase I

Phase II

Phase One
Findings

Recommendations

Benefits

Cloud Providers

Exploring the Future of Cloud Computing

IT Industry

Barriers

Policy Makers
Regulators

Potential
Action Areas

Prioritize
Action Areas

Conduct Case
Studies
/Workshops

Develop
Position Papers

Accelerate Adoption
Maximize Benefits

Value Proposition to Participants

Provide opportunities for private and public sectors to share concerns/learnings and
collaborate on a neutral platform

Create a network for governments to address cloud issues and promote technology
advancement on a global scale

Influence/Shape regulations in the cloud arena (product development, adoption,

regulation)

For more information on the project and/or to establish your involvement, please contact:
Joanna Gordon
Associate Director
Information Technology Industry
Email: joanna.gordon@weforum.org
Telephone: +41 22 869 3571

Chiemi Hayashi
Associate Director
Strategic Insight Teams, Scenario Planning
E-mail: chiemi.hayashi@weforum.org
Telephone: +41 22 869 1371