On Wednesday, Amazon announced the commencement of its AWS European Sovereign Cloud, a cloud service specifically tailored for clients in the extensively regulated industries and the public sector. This cloud system will be exclusively based within Europe, and independent from its other cloud operations. This launch emphasizes the importance of businesses adhering to Europe's stringent data privacy regulations, as well as the region's commitments to "digital sovereignty."
Amazon declared on Wednesday that they will be launching a new, independent cloud based in Europe which is meant for corporations operating in highly regulated industries as well as public sector organizations. AWS European Sovereign Cloud will be based in the EU and will be separate from the rest of Amazon's cloud services, granting clients the liberty to keep certain data within the EU and have it overseen exclusively by EU-resident AWS personnel. Amazon has also declared, "Customers will have the control and assurance that AWS will not access or use customer data for any purpose without their agreement, as well as access to the strongest sovereignty controls among leading cloud providers,"
The unveiling of the new cloud system serves to highlight the need for organisations to comply with Europe's rigorous data privacy regulations and the region's strive for digital sovereignty. Although the concept of digital sovereignty is not specific, it generally refers to the EU's drive to strengthen the development of essential technology and to impose tough regulations regarding the storage and flow of data.As government agencies and commercial enterprises more and more shift their operations to public cloud providers such as Amazon and Microsoft, the EU is concerned that data is being held on the servers of non-European organisations. There could be some cloud features that necessitate the movement of data to and from the EU. Firms and policymakers are possibly worried that this data could be accessed by non-European entities.Amazon's sovereign cloud could be interpreted as a bid to ease some of these concerns.
Max Peterson, Vice President of Sovereign Cloud at AWS, said in a press release that the AWS European Sovereign Cloud is a testament to their commitment to providing customers with the most robust sovereignty controls, safety protocols, and security features available in the cloud. For some time, the European Union has been troubled by foreign, most notably U.S., companies that dominate the cloud computing market in the bloc. As such, they have launched an endeavor termed Gaia X, the purpose of which is to link different cloud providers in the region, giving companies better choice in the services they utilize. Major U.S. tech giants have responded to the requirements of EU citizens for "sovereign" clouds by increasing their security features. Last year, Google Cloud introduced restrictions on EU individuals accessing European data inside the bloc. Concurrently, Microsoft launched its "Cloud for Sovereignty" initiative, designed to aid customers in commandeering their data.
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