The 2018 BSA Global Cloud Computing Scorecard created by The Software Alliance (BSA) has listed the United Kingdom as one of the top four leading IT economies worldwide. The UK, which previously ranked ninth as recently as 2016, has invested heavily in security and accessibility, implemented a number of privacy rules, and encourage private and public organizations to adopt the cloud.
The report looks at how a country’s IT structure facilitates or restricts cloud adoption. Leading companies in the list score well in areas of emerging technologies, security, data privacy, intellectual privacy, IT readiness (including broadband access), and the establishment of standards of practice.
Scores are based on a weighted matrix of categories, with IT readiness and broadband deployment representing 25 of the total 100 possible points a country can receive. Cybercrime, another important factor, makes up a possible 12.5 points with the question, “Are cybercrime laws or regulations in place” making up 5 of those points.
The top five countries and their scores are as follows:
- Germany – 84.0
- Japan – 82.1
- United States – 82.0
- United Kingdom – 81.8
UK Leading in IP Rights, Security
Of the 24 countries ranked in the scorecard, the UK has experienced the largest shift in ranking from the last rating, moving up five positions from 9th place in 2016. This is due in large part to the UK being among the top scorers in security, joined by Germany, France, Australia, United States, and Japan.
Intellectual Property rights, which protect cloud services and their customers’ proprietary technologies and data holdings against misappropriation and infringement, are another big factor in the rating. The United Kingdom, along with Singapore and the United States scored very highly in this area for both having the legal protections in place and enforcing those rules.
The lowest scoring nation in the scorecard is Vietnam, with a score of 36.4. Security and the promotion of free trade are particularly weak points for the Southeast Asian country.
The United Kingdom is showing no signs of slowing down on cloud adoption. In January, the UK’s National Health Service approved the storage of medical record data on the public cloud. The UK also has plans in place to expand on broadband speeds which currently includes 24Mbps or more to 95% of the UK, achieved in late 2017.
