Cloud computing now dictates and gives technology a new shape and form. It also changed the way people connect, the way work is done and how technology is run. Everything is now very convenient with just a few clicks at the tip of your fingers.
Everything can now be accessed from wherever one is through Mobile or Smartphones and tablet PCs. The best part is that they are now affordable and offer very huge data storage system. It is in this platform where Google, Facebook and Twitter have built their data facility.
In 2008, the Climate Group & the Global e-Sustainability Initiative published a report called the SMART 2020. In this report, the group gave the figures that showed how massive the demand for mobile devices and PCs are worldwide. In the same report the group projected that by 2020 about 4 billion PC devices will be out on the Web. This figure will significantly decrease the need for physical computers and desktops.
The current trend in cloud computing provides good news that will affect social transformation efforts. Cloud becomes a life changing platform that is affordable for small entrepreneurs and consumers that even those who are poor can afford.
Associate Director, Private Cloud Solutions at Bell Canada, Pano Xinos said, “Facebook and Twitter are a good example of how such tools have already been used to further democratic change in Northern African and the Middle East. I would go out on a limb and predict that we will see more services/tech start-ups/initiatives serving the developing world over the next 10 years. It can be a technology that can help lift the poor out of poverty.”
Xinos added, “Cloud, as it relates to the developing world, presents an interesting opportunity on two fronts. First, the ability to reach a large proportion of the world’s population who use mobile phones whether they are basic phones or smartphones, for all aspects of day-to-day communications. In fact, mobile phone penetration in developing countries outpaces personal computers/laptops and broadband internet access. So the use/sale of apps on mobile devices and advertising therein to reach consumers becomes much more important. Second, the nature of cloud computing is such that barriers to entry for entrepreneurs can be reduced because the cost of leasing scalable compute power on demand is so much lower than acquiring and maintaining physical servers. This simple fact can empower a generation of entrepreneurs in developing countries to market products and services to citizens of the developing world that are relevant and pertinent to their social context.”
Cloud is also setting trends in the games world, changing how banking is done, revolutionizing medical management and patient care in terms of virtual image recording and sharing, and giving level field opportunities to micro entrepreneurs. Cloud computing makes impossibilities happen through endless technology advancements and improvements.
