Frederic Genta, the Interministerial Delegate in charge of the Digital Transition, has announced the long-awaited arrival of a sovereign cloud to the Principality.
In keeping with the times and in order to maintain the privacy and security of end users, the government of Monaco has constructed its very own cloud for the use of people living and working in the country.
“A sovereign cloud is a solution for businesses on all computer subjects,” Frederic Genta, Delegate in charge of Digital Transition, told Monaco Info in a recent interview.  “A cloud allows them to access together a digital service without having the need to house the servers on site. It’s a structure that is very secure… but above all it is economical for Monaco because it is an offer that is more secure, has better service and costs less.”
Public clouds, which are used by most people for their personal files, are usually perfectly secure options, but in the case of certain sensitive data, sometimes the level of privacy or legal protection is not sufficient. In these cases, a private, or sovereign, cloud is a better solution.
Public clouds are mostly decentralised, hosted on infrastructures distributed across multiple geographic locations. Data in a public cloud can potentially be subject to several different jurisdictions and regulatory environments, as well. This not only comprises the sovereign protection afforded to the data, but also makes it open to regulatory issues that allow third parties to access it.
A sovereign cloud provides the necessary boundaries to store sensitive or official data on the public cloud. Data on this type of cloud will be located on Monegaque soil, will only be accessible by those with high-level, vetted security clearance, and usually only to those who reside in the Principality.
“Monaco today is the first State to launch a sovereign cloud,” Genta declared. “We are the first European country anywhere to finish our digital infrastructure in advance, with regard to 5G, fibre, digital and electronic transition. The cloud came after three years of construction of infrastructure and three years of preparation…Today Monaco and the Monegasque community are ready for the digital world.”
 
Photo by Cassandra Tanti for Monaco Life