Emerging markets lag behind in cloud-friendly policies

India ranks 20th out of 24 leading IT economies, compared to its ranking of 18th in 2016, a sign that the legal and regulatory environment for cloud computing in the country is restricting cloud innovation, according to the 2018 Global Cloud Computing Scorecard released by BSA | The Software Alliance. In 2018, most nations continue to make improvements, but some markets are falling further behind. Germany scored the highest on the Scorecard-due to its national cybersecurity policies and promotion of free trade-followed closely by Japan and the US. Bringing up the rear is a small group of nations that has failed to embrace the international approach: Russia, China, Indonesia, and Vietnam.

One of the key findings is, advanced privacy and security policies set leading countries apart from lagging markets. Countries continue to update and refine data protection regimes, most often in a way that enables cross-border data flows. Several countries, however, still have not adopted adequate privacy laws. Also, emerging markets continue to lag in the adoption of cloud-friendly policies, hindering their growth, while deviations from widely adopted regimes and international agreements hold back key markets. Global standards, certifications, and testing help improve the security environment for cloud computing, but not every country recognises such best practices as meeting local standards. Those few nations that have embraced localisation policies also pay a heavy price. Also, as even though nearly all countries continue to work to improve broadband access, the success of those efforts remains very inconsistent.