The United States has a golden opportunity to become the world's leading Cloud Computing deployer, and there will be no better evidence of this at the 8^th International Cloud Expo in New York on June 6-9.

Look at the roster of top sponsors at Cloud Expo: Abiquo, Adaptivity, Oracle, Rackspace, Terremark, Dell, Layered Tech, McAfee, Quest Software, Cloud.com, Fusion-IO, LogLogic, OpSource, Oxygen Cloud, Spoon, Stoneware, and Virtela.

Each one of these companies is headquartered in the US, throughout several different states, even as they all reach global markets through subsidiary offices throughout the world.

This show-the world's largest international Cloud Computing event-is being held in truly cosmopolitan New York City, and attracts significant attendance from all corners of the world.

It's my hope that businesses of all sizes will push this advantage into their own strategies and tactics and help revitalize the US economy.

Productivity Rules
It was productivity increases that fueled the US economy to new levels in the late 80s and then again in the late 90s. After what now appears to be a Lost Decade-particularly in the US industrial base-it seems that the US economy needs another round of productivity increases if it is to regain its footing.

If not Cloud Computing to the rescue, then what?

My point is not that there is something superior in the water in the US, but that the nation is, by far, the leading innovation hub for Cloud Computing. And the US economy remains the world's largest, larger than the next three-Japan, China, and Germany-combined.

The opportunity for the US to build upon its vendor leadership to establish business leadership in Cloud deployment comes into focus in the light of the recent CeBit 2011 show in Hannover, Germany. The world's largest trade show with an annual 500,000+ visitors was billed as a Cloud Computing event but which seemed to fall short of the mark.

I couldn't be there this year. But credible reports I've read indicate that after a perceptive speech on the topic by German Chancellor Andrea Merkel, the actual product demonstrations fell flat.

Will Privacy Impede Progress?
The Euros are much more protective of personal privacy than the US, and bravo for that. But it appears that data privacy concerns may lock up Cloud Computing progress in Europe as different countries and legislative bodies hash out where and how data can be stored.

Meanwhile, as I've written before and will write again, the US Federal Government has just produced a remarkable strategy, known as Cloud First, that clearly outlines a plan to move 25% of federal IT spending to the Cloud by 2013. This means $20 billion in annual spend. Business should feel free to copy this strategy and get the economy back in gear.

The consumer side of Cloud doesn't lack for US leaders, either, given Apple's $10 billion in iPad sales and an emerging ecosystem that will be at least twice that, Google's competing Android OS and ecosystem, and the continuing wonder that is Facebook. Amazon Web Services (a Cloud Expo exhibitor), Cisco, Microsoft, Yahoo, and others show the dominance of US companies in this space.

I don't believe it to be jingoistic to celebrate and encourage this dominance. The nations of the world have depended on US spending as their economic anchor for decades now, and will suffer serious withdrawal pains if they need to recalibrate in a massive way.

It's time for the US to go all-in with Cloud Computing. Attending Cloud Expo and seeing the latest innovations up close and personal should be a key part of this effort for anyone who's interested in improving their business and the global economy.

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