India 19th in cloud computing readiness: BSA

With an overall score of 50, though India is ahead of BRICS nations China (47.5) and Brazil (35.1), it ranked below advanced economies like Japan (83.3), Australia (79.2) and the US (78.6).

Cloud computing refers to a pay-per-use model of computing where applications and software are accessed over the Internet and not owned by users. It helps IT companies to save huge costs as they do not have to invest heavily in IT infrastructure.

According to Zinnov Management Consulting, India's cloud computing market is expected to reach USD 4.5 billion by 2015.

The BSA Global Cloud Computing Scorecard benchmarked cloud readiness of 24 countries that together account for 80 per cent of the global ICT market.

It examined laws and regulations in areas such as data privacy, cyber security, cyber crime, IP protection, free trade and IT infrastructure, among others.

"While India has done well in parameters like harmonisation to international laws and data security, work needs to be done on data protection and broadband infrastructure," BSA Technology Policy Counsel Chris Hopfensperger told reporters here.

The lack of effective regulations has been the biggest obstacle in allowing developed countries like India and China to draw the full benefits of global cloud computing environment, he said.