A local government-backed initiative to build a cloud computing centre for small businesses in Guangdong may spur similar developments across the country, according to Gery Messer of Linux software provider Red Hat.
Mr Messer, Red Hat's president of Asia-Pacific operations, said the Technology Agency of Nanhai District in Foshan was leading the cloud computing project inside the Guangdong Finance and Hi-tech Service Park.
'This may well be the first major government-initiated cloud computing centre in Asia,' Mr Messer said. 'If successful, similar ones will be established across the mainland.'
Cloud computing allows customers to access software, data and services from large-scale data centres through the internet for a fee. These facilities are usually represented as clouds in network diagrams, hence the name.
The model, which only requires customers to have a computer with internet access, has been proven to offer a much cheaper and viable way for small businesses to acquire and use information technology that larger enterprises have.
According to market research firm International Data Corp, worldwide information technology spending on cloud services will reach US$42 billion by 2012.
