Cloud Computing Policies and Their Economic Impacts in Asia and the Pacific

Key Points

• The economic impact of cloud computing on middle- and high-income economies in Asia and the Pacific is sizable. For 2023, its contribution to the economies of Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, the Republic of Korea, Thailand, and Viet Nam ranged from 0.25% to 2.23% of gross domestic product (GDP). The marginal economic impact of cloud adoption is greater for countries with higher cloud penetration resulting from cloud-enabling government policies.
• Government policies promoting cloud adoption not only impact the level of government effectiveness but also have positive spillover effects on the rest of the economy.
• Three sets of policies, are critical for stimulating the migration of government systems to the cloud: (i) an explicit “cloud first” policy for government, combined with a competitive cloud services industry model, and an effective cloud procurement mechanism; (ii) policies that allow data storage and processing beyond a country’s borders, including for the majority of government data categories; and (iii) a level of cybersecurity regulations, procedures, and capabilities, aligned with international standards. If middle-income countries in the region upgrade their cloud policy frameworks to the most advanced level that would boost their GDP growth by 0.5% to 0.7% in 2024–2028.
• These policies should be complemented by other initiatives, such as the promotion of fixed broadband access, and measures to drive digital skills development.