Public sector cloud computing is dynamic, challenging, fast-moving, and constantly evolving. Back for its fourth year, THINK Cloud for Government is the annual event that presents all the latest information, best practice, opinion and case studies, with thought leadership from government officials, IT and procurement professionals, academics, independent analysts, and leading cloud vendors, from the largest corporations to the nimblest, most innovative SMEs.
The event takes place on February 10th at the Business design Centre in Islington, London.
On 6 February 2015, the Directorate "Net Futures" organised the Call 2 Information Day and Networking event for 'Future Internet' presenting the topics in the area of Future Internet in the second ICT call H2020-ICT-2015 published in October 2014 and closed on April 2015.
The European Cloud conference, organized by the European Security Round table took place on 27th January 2015 at the NH Grand Place Arenberg in Brussels, Belgium. The conference focused on how access to cloud services in Europe is still hampered by a number of uncertainties and challenges, which vary from use case to use case. Depending on the type of data, type of service, and need for control, adoption of the cloud may be impeded by legal, technical, operational or economic barriers.
As cloud computing becomes the norm in business and in the public sector, increasing numbers of cloud models and trends are bursting on the scene, but one in particular is here to stay: the "Everything-as-a-Service" (XaaS) cloud model.
On Tuesday 9th December 2014, in London, took place the THINK Cloud Vendors one day conference. The event focused on providing to the audience, mainly UK cloud providers and representatives of the UK government, a better understanding of the opportunities available across the G-Cloud Platform and Digital Marketplace, highlighting the challenges faced and promoting effective strategies for the supplier community when selling cloud services to the Public Sector.
Under Digital Agenda, the European Commission commits itself through Action 23 to provide guidance on the link between ICT Standardisation and Public Procurement in order to help public authorities use standards to promote efficiency and reduce lock-in.
As a matter of fact, using ICT open standards results in:
- Higher savings when procuring ICT
- An increased level of competition among suppliers
- Being compliant with EU Public Procurement directives
On the 2nd and the 3rd of December 2014, the Public Sector World Cloud Forum event, the first event focusing on Public Sector in the EMEA Region, took place in London. As the requirements & limitations of the public sector are very different from those of enterprises, the Public Sector Cloud World Forum aimed to bring together senior government IT officials.
The Helix Nebula Initiative General Assembly "Enabling a Dynamic Cloud Ecosystem" was held on 26-27 November 2014 at ESA/ESRIN, Frascati, Italy. The first day of the event focused on enabling the dynamic creation of value chains under the Helix Nebula initiative. The second day focused on the procurement of cloud services in Europe bringing together the members of the PICSE initiative (www.picse.eu).
Silvana Muscella, Trust-IT Services gave a presentation of the PICSE initiative and of the newly Partner Search facility launched via the PICSE website http://www.picse.eu/partner-search. The event was a great opportunity for PICSE to establish synergies with players belonging to the Public Admnistrations.