European Commission (EC) names AWS as a provider in the Cloud II Framework to realize transformation goals

The European Commission (EC) is the executive branch of the European Union (EU). The EC is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, and managing the day-to-day business of the EU. The EC’s Cloud Strategy, published in May 2019, sets out a vision for cloud computing as an enabler of the Commission’s digital transformation.

Through its cloud-first approach, the EC aims to help EU institutions and agencies (EUIAs) increase agility and innovation, optimize costs, and enhance security. Establishing a central channel through which EUIAs, such as the European Central Bank and the Council of the EU, can purchase cloud services is a crucial step in this digital transformation journey.

The EC’s cloud procurement platform, “Cloud I,” launched in 2014 and created by the Directorate-General for Informatics (DIGIT), supports sourcing and delivery of IT to EUIAs. Over the last six years, Cloud I has been refined through collaboration with cloud providers. This has resulted in the current framework, known as “Cloud II,” which has a simplified procurement process and amendments to make it appropriate for the provision of services rather than hardware. Using Cloud II, 64 EUIAs can buy cloud services from providers that meet established security and compliance criteria. The EC designed the Cloud II framework to give EUIAs the freedom to implement their own IT sourcing and data strategies as well as to allow them to acquire cloud and associated professional services.

The EC has named Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a qualified provider in the Cloud II framework. In this role, AWS looks forward to collaborating with the EUIAs to help them successfully transition to the cloud and realize the innovation that’s possible in a digitally transformed public sector. The cloud services under this framework will facilitate innovation and delivery of better digital services to EU citizens.