Business Roundtable

In a report released this week, Business Roundtable (BRT) expressed concerns about the emerging threat posed by local data server requirements now being implemented in several countries.

“Promoting Economic Growth through Smart Global Information Technology Policy” focuses on the significant downside of requiring the use of server infrastructure within the borders of a country, rather than allowing businesses flexibility to determine the most secure, reliable and economically effective locations for servers. 

To reverse the tide of local data server requirements, BRT is calling on the U.S. Government to:

• Ensure the U.S. leads by example, and set a global gold standard for implementation of Global IT Policy.

• Take the additional actions to fully implement policies that address local data server requirements, such as the EU-U.S. Trade Principles for Information and Communication Technology Services and the OECD Principles for Internet Policy-Making.
   
• Formally clarify that it will not impose blanket local data server requirements, and that it will narrowly limit any such restrictions to genuine national security concerns.
   
• Work with other countries to implement an equivalent practice.

Local data server requirements hurt economic productivity and dramatically undercut the efficiencies and scalability made possible by cloud computing and networked technologies.