Secrets From Cloud Computing’s First Stage: An Action Agenda for Government and Industry

Cloud computing is a powerful and disruptive technology that is now breaking out into the mainstream economy, more than a decade after launching in 2006. Millions of companies are using some form of cloud computing, often from Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, or other providers. Successfully adopting cloud computing will be a key determinant of which countries will prosper in the global economy. Cloud computing lowers costs, creates technical and business agility, and enables innovation and digital transformation.

In 2020, the global market for cloud services was $270 billion and cloud companies listed on U.S. markets had more than $1 trillion in capitalization. Hundreds of new cloud services are being introduced and thousands of new venture-backed cloud companies are being formed.