Microsoft CEO: Cloud Computing is the Future

Cloud Computing could be the answer to the need to make massive cutbacks in public sector spending, according to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

"[The UK] government faces perhaps its most difficult challenge in a generation as you grapple with tough decisions that must be made in a way that confronts a difficult economic situation," said Ballmer. "We see at Microsoft extraordinary potential from an information technology perspective in Europe. The combination of interconnectedness, education, and diversity is, in fact, a huge competitive advantage for the region.

"We've seen the positive impact that technology can have on society," he said. "But I believe we're just really starting to discover the value that technology innovation can deliver here in Europe. As the French writer and poet, Anatole France, commented about 150 years ago, "To accomplish great things we must not only act but we must dream, not only plan but also believe." I dream and I believe in the future here in Europe."

Cloud Computing is the answer to shaping that future, declared Ballmer. "Information is no longer today bound by the constraints of any one device or any one location. It is instantly accessible through a variety of devices in a variety of places," he explained. "At the heart of the transformation is the most important technology breakthrough of our generation - Cloud Computing.

"Already we're beginning to get a sense of the power and the potential that cloud computing offers as Cloud-based applications begin to transform the way people access tools for education, for health care, for public administration," he added. "With technology advances of this scope and scale there is strong potential for significant impacts across Europe in critical areas like education, health, and science.

"Think about the impact on health care. There are so many opportunities to unlock personal data, so we as patients can access our own data and share it with our health care providers, doctors, researchers, as we see fit. There are inefficiencies driving up the cost of health care that technology can help reduce.

"Consider how intelligent devices that connect people and information through the cloud can change the way that patients recover once they leave the hospital. Think of a person who has a stroke and has lost mobility in half of his body. There would be huge benefits if he could do physical therapy in his living room using a device that observes how he's exercising, and gives corrective guidance.

"And what if that device could store data on his progress and send it to his doctors, so they could adjust the exercise regimen as he progressed through rehabilitation. These are technologies that go beyond cost-efficiencies. They are advances that have a significant positive impact on people's lives, and these technologies are being tested today."

Ballmer added "We have the ability to use data from a variety of sources, from citizens to satellites, and layer any information we want to, with appropriate respect for privacy, anything from deforestation information to data about biodiversity, pollution, or graffiti. The result is an interactive way to merge, to visualize, and to use data so that anyone, from a scientist to a policy expert, can make fast and informed decisions."