Introduction
Today, as public sector organizations explore innovation in technology, they need to address the rapidly evolving demands of their citizens while protecting sensitive data and delivering on promises of trust and security. Benefits of digital transformation include modernization of public sector services, digitization of manual processes, and improved user experiences for citizens and public sector employees. Public sector organizations know that the appropriate technology platforms can create better opportunities for social and economic growth.
As public sector organizations examine digital transformation, they evaluate various solutions, including private clouds, hybrid environments, disconnected and local solutions, and hyperscale clouds. While every solution has tradeoffs, the hyperscale cloud helps public sector organizations achieve their digital transformation goals in a better way. For most use cases, the hyperscale cloud is important and beneficial and can help meet the required controls.
The major concerns that public sector organizations face when moving to the hyperscale cloud is the need to:
Ensure digital sovereignty.
Meet complicated regulatory requirements.
Protect and secure sensitive data.
Introduction to digital sovereignty
Digital sovereignty describes a party’s right and ability to control its own data. It includes control over your digital environment, such as control over organization and employee data, software, hardware, and other digital assets.
Digital sovereignty encompasses the following areas:
Control - Control digital assets, including who has access to the data and how the data is processed.
Transparency - Gain visibility into operational processes and practices.
Compliance - Comply with local laws and regulations.
Security - Prevent unauthorized access by external parties.
Digital sovereignty has risen in importance because the cloud increasingly plays a critical role in global affairs. Digital sovereignty is critical to public sector organizations to:
Protect government data from security breaches and malicious activity.
Meet the evolving regulatory and compliance requirements, such as General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Protect data with control and visibility over data access.
Maintain government data confidentiality and protect privacy.
Secure data to prevent negative business and financial impact.
Digital sovereignty can mean many things in different contexts. In the context of Microsoft’s approach to digital sovereignty, we help provide public sector organizations with enhanced control over their data. This enhanced control might include data residency in regional boundaries and tools to control who has access to their data.