Maharashtra becomes the first state to unveil public cloud policy

The state of Maharashtra has become the first state to come up with a public cloud policy, virtually mandating its departments to shift their data storage onto the cloud, creating a USD 2 billion opportunity for the industry.

The announcement was made by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis at the Maharashtra Technology Summit on 17 January 2018. Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said that the state government has unveiled their public cloud policy that will allow all government departments to have access to the public cloud.

Significance

• The public cloud policy is the first by any state.

• It will result in additional private sector investments as the government is one of the biggest creators and consumers of data.

• According to estimates, the move will create a USD 2-billion opportunity for the industry.

• Every single government department uses data storage. Hence, the virtually mandatory cloud policy will now make data storage more convenient and cheaper in the state.

Background

The Maharashtra state government had formed a four-member committee to draft a policy framework on cloud usage two months ago, which submitted a policy document that's being now adopted as the public cloud policy.

The policy is likely to be formally set in motion through a detailed government resolution.

Soon, five to six top cloud service providers such as Amazon or Microsoft will be roped in for data storage onto the cloud.

Under the framework, the government will make it mandatory for the data to be stored within the country. The broad aim is to use public cloud in cases wherever the Right to Information Act is applicable and then have enhanced security features for private and sensitive data, which will also be stored on the cloud system.

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