Posted by aisling hassell on Thu, Jan 26, 2012 @ 10:50 PM
Today in Davos Vice President Neelie Kroes, in charge of the Digital Agenda, one of the seven
flagships from the European Commission to built a stronger economic Europe, invited Public
Authorities and Industry, Cloud Buyers and Suppliers to come together in A European Cloud
Partnership.
In her speech in Davos, VP Kroes mentioned again that she wants to make Europe not just Cloud friendly,but Cloud active. Many are still hesitant before the Cloud. Numerous issues are particulary troublesomefor smaller companies. She mentioned legal certainties, standards, certifications, interoperability andother barriers.
VP Kroes is determined to overcome these barriers. On the regulatory side, the commission has already started in proposing new rules for data protection, including the data in the Cloud. Kroes mentioned the public sector, where public IT procurement is about 20 percent of the market but is fragmented and has limited impact. This buying power could be harnessed through more harmonisation and integration and ultimately also through joint public procurement cross borders. She invites Public Authorities and Industry, Cloud Buyers and Suppliers to come together in A European Cloud Partnership and expects this process to go through three phases:
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The partnership has to come up with common requirements for Cloud procurement, looking at standards, competition and security, avoiding lock-in situations.
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The partnership must come up with proof of concept solutions for common requirements.
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In this final phase reference implementations must be built.
The European commission will launch this partnership with an investment of initially 10 million Euros and with first results to be expected in 2013. The partnership will create a strong common basis for cloud procurement by public authorities and, she said, there is no reason why procurement by private business and organizations would not adopt in this direction as well.
At the closure of her speech she stated that the Cloud Partnership and the overall Cloud strategy is not to build a European super Cloud. Cloud business models, the setup of Cloud suppliers and publicly run data centers, should be determined by efficiency considerations on the market. The European Commission has already begun talking to potential partners and to work on setting up the Cloud Partnership.
The position of EuroCloud
EuroCloud supports the idea very much and is discussing with the European Commission and industry how we can actively contribute to this process. With EuroCloud presence in 27 countries we are capable of taking these issues to the next level. EuroCloud has been involved in addressing the barriers mentioned by VP Kroes as working group leader on Trust, Security and Certification.
Posted by Noel Shannon on Wed, Jan 25, 2012 @ 11:43 AM
Two new immigration initiatives have been launched, aimed at facilitating migrant entrepreneurs to create jobs in Ireland, in return for permission to live in the State.
EuroCloud Ireland has welcomed this initiative, ''It's a great idea, and could 
well provide the necessary impetus to encorage foreign investors looking to 'follow their money', said Noel Shannon - Chairman of EuroCloud Ireland.
The Immigrant Investor Programme and the Start-Up Entrepreneur Programme will be formally launched by Minister for Justice Alan Shatter in March.
The first programme will require between €400,000 and €2m of an investment by applicants, depending on the level and duration of financial commitment.
The second programme aims to foster new enterprises for which the applicant will have to have financial backing of not less than €70,000.
Approved participants and their immediate family will be allowed enter the State on multi-entry visas and remain here for two years. The visas will be renewable.
Applications for both programmes will be considered by an Evaluation Committee, comprising relevant State agencies and Government departments.
EuroCloud can assist any foreign company who is considerimng investing through this scheme by advising on appropriate opportunities in cloud computing in Ireland.
Contact - noel.shannon@siliconcloud.com
Posted by Noel Shannon on Tue, Dec 13, 2011 @ 09:29 AM
EuroCloud has concluded its first pan-European Cloud Computing Awards in Paris by delivering trophies in four categories - Best Startup, Best Solution, Best Use Case in the Public Sector and Best Use Case in the Private Sector. The winners are
Best Solution 2011: RunMyProcess (France)
Best Startup 2011: Severalnines (Sweden)
Best Use Case in the Public Sector 2011: EBRC (Luxembourg)
Best Use Case in the Private Sector 2011: e-builder (Sweden)
For the details, see the press release
Posted by Noel Shannon on Tue, Dec 06, 2011 @ 05:06 PM
‘’Commence Corporation, a leading provider of Customer Relationship Management Software (CRM) has announced the opening of Commence International in Dublin’’
Commence will be a welcome addition to the membership at EuroCloud Ireland. Recently Commence announced the establishment of Commence International to take responsibility for the European market for their new web based CRM software. Commence CRM is targeted at mid-size companies and small enterprises and is a real alternative to competitive products such as Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Salesforce.com. Commence CRM is web based and is deployed in a cloud computing environment.
Customer data is stored at a world class data centre in Reading, England via a strategic partnership with Rack Space, the number one rated application service provider. This provides UK and European customers with outstanding performance and scalability and the comfort of knowing that their data is a highly protected.
Explore how Commence CRM can offer a cost saving alternative to traditional CRM solutions.
For more information about Commence CRM software, visit the company’s web site at http://www.commence.co.uk
Posted by Noel Shannon on Thu, May 05, 2011 @ 11:07 AM
Call For Entries
EuroCloud Ireland are seeking entries for the EuroCloud Awards Programme. The Awards aim to promote innovation, promote the best products and to show how cloud implementation can be successful and effective.
EuroCloud Ireland is seeking entries for :
1) Best European Start-Up
This is open to Irish companies with a product or service in the cloud sector who set up after 1st Jan 2009.
The winner of this category will be invited to participate in the
European Final which takes place at the Eurocloud Congress in
Luxembourg on June 27th -28th 2011.
Please submit a 3 page (max) proposal to info@eurocloud.ie
outlining your case to go forward to the European Final.
2) Best European Cloud service/product
This is open to Irish companies set up before 1st Jan 2009.
The winner of this category will be invited to participate in the European Final which takes place at the Eurocloud Congress in Luxembourg on June 27th -28th 2011.
Please submit a 3 page (max) proposal to info@eurocloud.ie
outlining your case to go forward to the European Final.
The Eurocloud Ireland Awards will be administered by Eurocloud Ireland. The Judges decision will be final. Those going forward to the European Final accept the terms and conditions of Eurocloud.
Closing date for entries 5pm Monday 23rd May 2011
www.eurocloud.ie
www.eurocloud.org
About Eurocloud
EuroCloud is a non profit organisation that promotes and stimulates cloud computing in Europe on a local, international and European level interacting with organisations and politics locally and internationally.
EuroCloud is the largest and fastest growing cloud computing community in Europe with a presence in 25 European countries.
Posted by Joe Haugh on Mon, Jul 05, 2010 @ 11:51 AM
With the increasing use of cloud computing see article here, businesses are asking what are the legal implications that they face in adopting this medium in relation to data security and protection.With all the talk (and questions) about Cloud Computing, EuroCloud Ireland in conjunction with the Irish Computer Society organised the above seminar to discuss the legal aspects of Cloud Computing.
The interest level was demonstrated by over 170 people from a variety of business sectors and the public sector attending two morning seminars or viewing via a live web stream. Philip Nolan , partner at Mason Hayes+Curran and board member of EuroCloud Ireland was the main speaker and in his talk, Philip emphasised a number of points;
- He pointed out that as the cloud was developing most participants were primarily concerned about the one-sided contacts offered by cloud providers and the data protection difficulties arising when personal data is put into the cloud. However, Nolan stressed that these issues were largely the result of the uncertainty accompanying the shift to a new platform and could be addressed through an understanding of the underlying legal issues and by putting proper contracts in place.
- Nolan drew attention to the recent LA-Google cloud computing contract, under which the City of Los Angles is moving away from desktop software and local storage into the cloud. The terms of this contract, which include an unlimited right to damages for data breach, were very favourable to the city, Philip pointed out.
- Nolan also pointed out that the data protection issues surrounding the cloud had evolved considerably in recent months. The Article 29 Working Party, the EU’s data protection advisory group, was acutely aware of the complications posed by uploading data into the cloud. The Irish Data Protection Commissioner was also in the process of implementing a mandatory notification regime for data breach, a development that could provide additional reassurance for users of the cloud, while increasing costs for providers of cloud services.
In the follow-up Q&A, a lot of conversation centered around the Safe Harbour legislation of the USA and how the European Union deals with it. It was noted that if a company is in compliance with this legislation then the European Union recognises that company as been compliant with the European directives on data protection.
Some of the panel members noted that due diligence is always required to ensure that a company is fully compliant with the Act and not just paying lip service. There have been a number of reviews by European and Australian regulatory bodies which found that a percentage of companies while claiming compliance with the Safe Harbour principles were not in actual compliance.
There was a lot of discussion on the use of third party service providers by cloud service providers. The advice was that when companies are dealing with Cloud Service providers, they should also determine if any third parties are being engaged by the Cloud Services provider to manage certain aspects of the cloud service ( e.g. data backup or database administration services ). If third parties are being used, then the responsibilities of the cloud service provider in managing these third parties should be raised in the SLA talks and explicitly put into the contract .
To view the seminar in full online, please CLICK HERE
EuroCloud Ireland would like to thank the support of Michael Martin of Irish Software Innovation Network and Microsoft Ireland for this seminar.
Posted by Joe Haugh on Wed, May 19, 2010 @ 02:56 PM
"Building Cloud Communities"
The leaders of Ireland's IT sector lined up in significant numbers at the new Aviva Stadium on Tuesday 18th May to attend the launch of EuroCloud Ireland, the Irish branch of an European Cloud Computing organisation. EuroCloud Ireland aims to, in the words of Mark Zuckerberg, provide the 'elegant organisation' for a community of users and providers of cloud based services that will give Ireland the competitive edge in the rapidly evolving area of Cloud Computing technology.
As part of the European wide EuroCloud organisation, EuroCloud Ireland recognises that an active community can leverage the benefits of cloud computing and understand and overcome any barriers. This community will be an environment to promote the development and adoption of Cloud Computing technology in Ireland and help drive Ireland's Smart Economy.
EuroCloud Ireland, as a not for profit organisation, represents the interests of both consumers and providers of cloud services from an educational and representative point of view. Our role can be seen as a facilitator for this cloud community to;
- Be an information source for Irish companies to help them leverage the benefits of Cloud Computing
- Use sub-groups to research specific topics, issue white papers and facilitate discussion on these topics among the community
- Provide a framework where service providers can benchmark themselves against industry best practice.
Minister for the Knowledge Society, Conor Lenihan T.D., noted that "the Government is currently positioning Ireland as a global hub for green data centres facilitating the massive storage requirements demanded by internet cloud computing while lowering server and energy costs. This can only be a positive move for Ireland."
Some of key players in Ireland's smart economy presented to the delegates in attendance. Microsoft Ireland's Managing Director, Paul Rellis, emphasised that the cloud represents an unparalleled opportunity for Irish companies, giving smaller companies access to world class computing resources to allow them to scale quickly and cheaply while giving larger companies the opportunity to innovate quickly and save costs. Microsoft has already invested $500 million in a green datacentre in Ireland and is delighted to be supporting Eurocloud Ireland in its efforts to help Irish companies realise the potential of Cloud Computing.
IDA Ireland's CEO, Barry O'Leary, was keen to underline the government's successes to date in encouraging some of the world's largest technology companies to move some of their key cloud computing operations to Ireland.
Important research, development and innovation jobs are being created in Ireland as a result of the IDA's work and if Ireland succeeds in becoming a global hub for Cloud Computing, more jobs will follow said O'Leary. EuroCloud Ireland should also play a role here in producing an important forum for the industry to work together, develop standards and promote cloud communities.
Dr. Chris Coughlan, Head of Cloud Computing at HP Galway, the keynote speaker, said that there were three key strands to Ireland becoming a global hub for cloud computing;
- First, by attracting foreign direct investment from large and global corporations to base their cloud computing RD&I and operations here. Due to the efforts of the IDA this is already happening.
- Second, by Irish companies adopting Cloud Computing in their day to day business and the competitive near zero capital business model associated with it.
- Finally, by our indigenous software development industry taking a leading worldwide innovative role to capitalise on the enormous and sustainable opportunity that Cloud Computing presents.
Eurocloud Ireland will have a major guiding role in all three areas according to Coughlan.
For information about membership of EuroCloud Ireland and its future events and activities, please visit EuroCloud Ireland's website at http://www.eurocloud.ie/
Posted by Joe Haugh on Wed, Apr 28, 2010 @ 07:05 AM
The official launch of EuroCloud Ireland is planned for Tuesday May 18th in the Aviva Stadium.
EuroCloud Ireland is looking to build a community of current and prospective users and providers of cloud based services in Ireland. As part of the European wide EuroCloud organisation, our goal is to provide a local platform to promote the adoption of Cloud Computing in Ireland and help drive Ireland's Smart Economy.
To reflect this goal, we are delighted to have the following speakers at the launch event;
- Mr Conor Lenihan, TD Minister for Science Technology & Innovation
- Mr Barry O'Leary, CEO IDA Ireland
- Dr Chris Coughlan, Head of Cloud Computing HP Galway (Keynote speaker)
- Mr Noel Shannon, Chairman EuroCloud Ireland
There will be plenty of opportunities to network before and after the speeches. Please click here for full details on the event and to register.