CISPE Board restates its commitment to supporting cloud computing fundamentals for the success of a European digital economy

Brussels – 3rd June 2022. At the General Assembly of members of the Cloud Infrastructure Service Providers in Europe last week, two new board elections were confirmed. Anne Duboscq, Public Affairs Director at OVH, and David Chassan, Chief Strategy Officer of 3DS OUTSCALE, were formally confirmed as Board members for the first time. Stefano Cecconi, CEO, Aruba, was confirmed as the new President of the Board and Jaqueline van de Werken, Group General Counsel at Leaseweb as Vice President. Four further existing board members; Diego Cabezudo, CEO, Gigas; Antii Vilponnen, CEO, UpCloud; Stefan Ducable, VP Public Policy EMEA, AWS; Lorenzo Chiriatti, Group General Counsel, Register.IT, all had their appointments ratified by the general assembly for a further 3 years.

The CISPE Board plays an essential role in setting the direction, focus and objectives of the organisation. Under CISPE’s articles of association all Board decisions must be made with a double majority of both European and SME-sized members. It has overall responsibility for decision-making in pursuit of the organisation’s objectives, financial controls, and membership.

CISPE’s 25 members span the whole of Europe and include both multi-national providers and local SMEs. Its objectives are focused on specific cloud infrastructure issues fundamental to the success of a European digital economy. These include:

• Cloud first procurement policies – underpinned by the recently updated CISPE Handbook for Public Sector Cloud Procurement
• Sustainability with its co-creation of the Climate Neutral Data Centre Pact, committing the industry to climate neutrality by 2030
• Security and Privacy, with the CISPE Code of Conduct for Data Protection, the first GDPR code of conduct for cloud infrastructure, plus working groups on cybersecurity
• An open and competitive market for cloud infrastructure services, with the launch and support of the Ten Principles of Fair Software, plus founding and current Board members of GAIA-X and active participants in SWIPO and a new Women in Cloud initiative.

Commenting on the General Assembly elections, President Cecconi said; “CISPE is an increasingly high-profile organisation which speaks for the cloud infrastructure service provider industry in Europe. Our voice is increasingly relevant, important, and influential, so it is essential that our Board remains fully representative of the industry and has the confidence of the membership, the industry and the wider stakeholder community. These elections, held every three years, ensure that this is the case. I congratulate and welcome my fellow Board members and am looking forward to working closely with them as we take on the challenges and opportunities ahead.”