Are ASEAN Governments Keeping Up With the Race to the Cloud?

The cloud computing market in Southeast Asia has grown, both in terms of the variety of services available and the number of new entrants. As cloud services are more cost-effective than establishing and maintaining local servers, it has become increasingly popular and has opened the door for regional businesses to connect and compete on a global platform.

But what of the public sector? Are government organisations also keeping up with the massive migration to the cloud?

During the recent AWS Public Sector Summit, Data & Storage ASEAN interviewed Amazon Web Services’ Regional Managing Director Worldwide Public Sector, ASEAN, Eric Conrad, to hear his thoughts on the current situation of cloud adoption among ASEAN public sectors and how AWS can help in order to accelerate their digital transformation journeys.

Cloud Readiness in the Public Sector

Governments and public sectors in ASEAN countries are at different stages of cloud adoption and maturity. Currently, Singapore is not only the leading country that ASEAN countries look up to in terms of their cloud readiness but also the world. Singapore scored 8.5 out of 10 on the Global Cloud Ecosystem Index 2022 published by MIT Technology Review in partnership with Infosys Cobalt, making it the most “cloud-ready” country in the globe. In addition to outperforming its APAC counterparts, Singapore outscored some of the western powerhouses such as Germany (8.1), the United Kingdom (8.0) and the United States (7.7). The survey concluded factors depending on the degree to which factors like technology, laws and human resources all work to make cloud services more accessible. A comparison and evaluation of the legal frameworks and digital practices that encourage the usage of cloud models in the public and private sectors are also included.

Eric concurs that Singapore is more developed than other places in the region due to its pioneering work in creating a cloud region in 2010. The nation has a long history of collaboration with AWS, longer than any of its Southeast Asian neighbours. Singapore has accomplished some notable milestones since then, including the following:

Addressing the procurement mechanism very early on.
Establishing a very strong cloud-first policy.
Having a very thoughtfully designed data classification structure.

“They understand that unrestricted data that is low risk can be put on the cloud and they continue to refine that. They have also spent a lot of time and effort on training and scaling,” said Eric.

AWS has worked very closely with GovTech, a statutory board of the Government of Singapore, under the Prime Minister’s Office, in terms of establishing and being a part of their skills and development programs. With GovTech, the cloud provider is helping many organisations accelerate their cloud journey and addressing some of the key points on how to establish a strong cloud region. The three key points Eric highlighted are:

Leaders putting together aggressive goals.
Extensive Scaling.
Bold Experimenting.

“They have done that very effectively and they have continued to do that up to this day. Those same things are what each of the countries of ASEAN is working on and needs to improve to catch up with Singapore. These are the things that really enable and ease the friction in terms of how people move to the cloud,” Eric added.

Being Ahead Does Not Guarantee Security

Nevertheless, Singapore is not immune to severe cyber attacks even if it is at the forefront of technology and cloud use. Last year alone, 178 data breaches happened in Singapore’s government agencies. That is a 65% spike from the 108 cases recorded the previous year, 2020.

Through the years, cloud providers like AWS have been trying to change the perception that the cloud is not secure, investing significant amounts to improve their infrastructure and services on that front. But while cloud providers are accountable for cloud-wide safety, Eric reminds us that individual customers are typically tasked with guarding their own private clouds.

“At the end of the day, when you take a look at all the controls and mechanisms available, the customers ultimately have to make the determination as to who has the access to their system, or what kind of rights that they give for their files and how they protect them,” the regional manager mentioned.

However, he added that what AWS does is give its customers access to a wide variety of resources. Consider the AWS Console, a programme that logs any adjustments made to the infrastructure’s settings. Using analytics and ML, the app can determine if there are security risks within AWS customers’ networks, allowing the company to better anticipate and respond to cloud-based threats. There are several different things that can be done but the first step is to take a comprehensive look at the customer’s security policy.

“Ensuring that you have the identity access management right. Ensuring you have your security controls right. Ensuring that you are actually executing those to standards. Because at the end of the day, you are able to, on AWS Console, see all that is happening on one dashboard,” Eric explained.

Capitalising on the Promise of the Cloud

When organisations try to make the transition to the cloud, Eric mentioned that organisations are often faced with certain hindrances, for example, internal factors like culture and people.

“By culture and people, I mean that you have to have very strong leadership from the top,” he clarified. Once again, he brought up his earlier proposals, in which he said that all organisations should set lofty targets, provide scale (a crucial requirement), and foster an atmosphere conducive to experimentation. If these organisations do not have these elements, very often it will become a significant barrier for them.

As a result of the pressing needs towards nations all around the globe for over the past two years, public sectors, governments, health agencies, non-profit organisations, and educational institutions have been compelled to turn to cloud computing. For any country that is seriously considering the shift towards a digitalised nation, these days, the cloud seems like an absolute requirement.

Organisations all around the world are undergoing a digital transformation, and cloud computing is the engine powering this shift. It can completely alter your approach to innovation and business by providing you with low-cost entry to cutting-edge tools and resources that can help you dominate your industry. Of course, these same benefits can also be realised by the public sector.

“To support our customer’s drive for digital modernisation, we are deeply invested in working with our local partners, and start-ups, to drive innovation and economic growth accessible and secure. A massive opportunity awaits you in the cloud and we are here to empower every one of you to lead in a digital ASEAN,” Eric Conrad said, ending the interview.