Cloud computing in the Digital Decade: Building Europe’s digital
future
Cloud computing is the delivery of digital services, such as data
storage, processing and software, over the internet rather than
through local servers or personal devices. It allows users to access
powerful computing resources on demand, enabling faster innovation,
better scalability and more efficient data management. 

As part of the Digital Decade strategy
[https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/priorities-2019-2024/europe-fit-digital-age/europes-digital-decade-digital-targets-2030_en],
the European Commission is working to create a secure, sustainable and
competitive cloud ecosystem. This includes shifting from centralised
data centres to edge computing, where data is processed closer to the
user, improving speed, privacy and energy efficiency. By 2030, the EU
aims to deploy 10 000 climate-neutral edge nodes and ensure that 75%
of European businesses adopt cloud-edge technologies. Supporting
initiatives include the Cloud and AI Development Act
[https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/consultations/have-your-say-future-cloud-and-ai-policies-eu],
the EU Cloud Services Certification
[https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/cybersecurity-certification-framework],
and the SIMPL open-source middleware platform
[https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/simpl]. 

While open data refers to public datasets that are freely available to
everyone, cloud infrastructure provides the tools and space to store,
access and analyse that data efficiently. Instead of downloading files
or relying on local systems, users can work with open data directly in
the cloud. The European Commission’s investment in secure and
interoperable cloud systems ensures that open data is not only
accessible, but also protected, reliable and ready to power innovation
across Europe. 

To learn more about the EU’s cloud computing strategy and how it
supports Europe’s digital transformation, visit the official policy
page
[https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/cloud-computing].
For access to thousands of open datasets and tools, explore European
Data Portal.
[https://data.europa.eu/data/combined?query=halloween&locale=en] 

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Publication Date/Time
2025-11-05T09:00:00+00:00
Making public data accessible through secure and scalable cloud
systems