Cloud Computing Project Announces Two New Publications
The Berkman Center is pleased to announce two new publications on cloud computing. These publications build upon a series of events, workshops, conversations, and research conducted over the last several years with collaborators from government, academia, and the private sector.
“Governments and Cloud Computing: Role, Approaches, and Policy Considerations,” written by Executive Director Urs Gasser and David O'Brien, explores how several governments have assumed different “roles” with respect to their policy initiatives and regulatory in response to the emergence of cloud computing. This paper explores each of these roles in detail using examples from governmental strategies and shares high-level observations about the roles and the contexts in which they arise. The paper concludes with a set of considerations for policymakers to take into account when developing approaches to the rapidly evolving cloud computing technologies and industry. This paper is available for download on SSRN.
In “Cloud Innovation and the Law: Issues, Approaches, and Interplay,”
Executive Director Urs Gasser uses cloud computing as a lens to distill
high-level insights about the regulation of emerging technologies in
digitally networked environments. The paper starts by introducing and
framing cloud computing as both a technological innovation and
innovation-enabling technology – in short: cloud innovation. The paper
then explores how the legal and regulatory system interacts with cloud
computing by identifying, clustering, and analyzing reactions from the
legal and regulatory systems in response to the emergence of cloud
computing. It ends with general observations regarding the design of
interfaces – technical, organizational, and human – between
innovative and innovation-enabling technologies, like cloud computing,
and the legal and regulatory system. This paper is available for download on SSRN.
About the Cloud Computing Project
Since 2010, the Berkman Center has engaged in research and activities focused on understanding emerging issues and trends related to cloud computing. Led by Executive Director and Harvard Law School Professor of Practice Urs Gasser in collaboration with Berkman faculty colleagues, fellows, and staff members, as well as his international partners, this initiative seeks to identify and evaluate the challenges and opportunities associated with cloud computing, with a particular focus on the technological, social, legal, and market contexts that shape it.
More information can be found on the project website.
