The Amazon Web Services (AWS) emblem, a subsidiary of Amazon that gives on-demand cloud computing platforms to people, firms, and governments, displayed in the course of the Mobile World Congress 2023 on March 2, 2023, in Barcelona, Spain.
Joan Cros | Nurphoto | Getty Images
Amazon on Wednesday mentioned it is going to launch an impartial cloud for Europe aimed toward firms in highly-regulated industries and the general public sector.
Amazon Web Services European Sovereign Cloud will probably be situated inside Europe and will probably be separate to the U.S. expertise large’s different cloud operations.
Customers of the brand new system will have the ability to preserve sure data within the European Union and solely EU-resident AWS workers who’re situated within the 27-nation bloc may have management of the operations and assist for the sovereign cloud.
“Customers may have the management and assurance that AWS won’t entry or use buyer data for any function with out their settlement, as nicely as entry to the strongest sovereignty controls amongst main cloud suppliers,” Amazon mentioned in an announcement.
The launch of the brand new cloud system underscores the necessity for companies to satisfy Europe’s strict data privateness guidelines as nicely as the area’s push for so-called “digital sovereignty,” the concept the EU needs to be accountable for its personal data and expertise.
The thought of digital sovereignty, whereas not well-defined, broadly pertains to a bid by the EU to spice up European-developed essential expertise and have strict guidelines over the storage and switch of data.
As authorities companies and significant companies more and more transfer their operations to public cloud operators, like Amazon or Microsoft, there’s rising concern within the EU that data is being saved on the servers of non-European companies. Some cloud options might require data to be transferred to and from the EU. And there’s a rising fear amongst companies and lawmakers that this data may very well be accessed by entities outdoors of the EU.
Amazon’s sovereign cloud is probably going an try to allay a few of these fears.
“The AWS European Sovereign Cloud reinforces our dedication to providing AWS clients probably the most superior set of sovereignty controls, privateness safeguards, and safety features obtainable within the cloud,” mentioned Max Peterson, vice chairman of Sovereign Cloud at AWS, in a press launch.
For years, the EU has been involved in regards to the reliance on international, specifically U.S. companies, for cloud computing within the bloc. Europe has tried to counter the rising measurement of cloud giants through an initiative called Gaia X, which goals to attach totally different cloud suppliers within the area, providing companies extra alternative on the companies they use.
Major U.S. expertise giants have appeared to spice up their options to satisfy the necessity within the EU for “sovereign” clouds. Last yr, Google Cloud launched options, together with limiting entry to European data by EU residents throughout the bloc. And final yr, Microsoft launched its “Cloud for Sovereignty” options aiming to spice up data management for patrons.