The Government says it is "committed to the use of cloud to improve the efficiency of its services while maintaining data security and provide services that are more responsive to business and community needs."
"Our E-Government and the Digital Economy plan recognises that the community expects government services to be responsive and available where and when they want them," communications minister, Malcolm Turnbull, and finance minister, Matthias Corman, said in joint statement. They said that, by adopting cloud, the Government would be able to deliver better and more efficient services.
The Government procures approximately $6 billion of ICT services annually, but only a fraction of this is spent on cloud services. "To unlock this potential, we are releasing the Government's new cloud policy, which requires Government departments and agencies to adopt cloud where it is fit for purpose, provides adequate protection of Government data and delivers value for money."
However OzHub, a body representing cloud service providers, says that without strong leadership, capability and specific targets, the policy will be pie in the sky.
OzHub chair, Matt Healy, said: “The cloud computing industry supports the goals and sentiments in the new cloud computing policy, but without a clear plan or specific goals, they will not be achieved."
He contrasted the goal-free Australian policy with that of the UK. “The United Kingdom has a goal of shifting half its new government IT spending to cloud based services by 2015. ... The new [Australian] cloud computing policy shows intent, but lacks targets and strong central leadership. ... Industry is ready but the Government must set real targets. We’ve been in the starter’s hands in the race for take-up of cloud computing for too long,” he said.
Healy pointed out that Australia was ranked third in the 2014 Cloud Readiness Index. "Australia is one of the biggest improvers in cloud readiness, and boasts a mature legal and investment climate for cloud operations. The Australian industry has invested deeply in data centres that provide the cloud computing infrastructure. The rollout of the NBN and 4G networks will only further develop cloud computing."
Also, Healy suggested that updated Information Security Management Guidelines released by the Attorney General the same day as the new cloud policy might undermine its intent.
Under the new arrangements, agency heads will be able to approve proposals to place certain information in either offshore or domestically hosted (onshore) public cloud services. According to the Government, "The removal of this unnecessary red tape will promote productivity and the efficient use of Government resources."
However, Healy said: “Devolving decision-making to individual agencies on the basis of ‘streamlining decision-making’ may not constitute an appropriate privacy and security regime to protect the private information of Australians.
“We believe there should be a sensible balance of prudent accountability by the Attorney-General and central agencies in providing assurance to Australians that their information is safe and that redress in Australia is available should there be a breach.
“There is an increased risk associated with data held offshore, and surveys showing that consumers and SMEs are more concerned about the security of their personal information when held offshore."
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Quelle/Source: WhaTech, 11.11.2014
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