Europe’s first ever SaaS and cloud services organisation now operating in 16 countries
EuroCloud plans to be present in 25 European countries
by the end of 2010Paris (France), February 4, 2010, EuroCloud, the first European organisation for cloud computing and SaaS, was officially launched at a meeting in Paris (Toit de la Grande Arche). The Chairmen of 12 local EuroCloud branches gathered and signed the statutes to bring the European organisation into existence. The first European board was also elected. The gathering took steps to define a strategy and goals for EuroCloud moving forward, to help align local activities with the organisation’s global objectives.
Representatives were present from Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Ireland, the UK, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Germany, Spain, Portugal and Italy (as special observer).
The first European board officers were elected as follows:
– President: Pierre-José Billotte, EuroCloud France
– Vice president: Phil Wainewright, EuroCloud UK
– Vice president: Bernd Becker, EuroCloud Deutschland
– Vice president: Charles Convent, EuroCloud Belgique
– Secretary General: Maurice Van der Woude, EuroCloud Netherlands
– Treasurer: Paulo Calcada, EuroCloud Portugal
Following a call for participation announced last October to gather coordinators and members, EuroCloud has seen outstanding interest – 12 European communities have already been created and the organisation plans to expand further to have a presence in 25 countries by the end of the year.
Pierre-José Billotte, President of EuroCloud: “The growth of EuroCloud is very impressive. Three months ago, nobody would have forecast such a huge development in such a short period of time. During the last week of January alone, EuroCloud received around 40 enquiries from companies from all over Europe. Something new is really happening in Europe. We are looking forward to supporting and accelerating the growth of cloud computing and SaaS in Europe, by providing this powerful tool called EuroCloud to our members and partners.”
Among the numerous decisions made on January 29 in Paris: Anders Trolle-Schutz (EuroCloud Denmark) has been appointed in charge of relationships with the European Commission (EC), Michael Abrahamsson (EuroCloud Sweden) has been appointed to be in charge of initiatives on cloud standardization, Bernd Becker in charge of relationships with international organizations and Pierre-José Billotte is in charge of initiatives on cloud security.
About EuroCloud
EuroCloud is the first European network of local SaaS and cloud computing communities, including vendors and industry experts and has a presence today in 16 European countries: Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Ireland, UK, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Germany, Spain, Portugal as branches, and Austria, Ukraine, Turkey and Italy as informal communities. It is aiming at developing the next generation of added value applications. Through its diverse membership, EuroCloud will promote cloud computing in Europe, including current state of the markets and future innovations, and will become a critical exchange platform across the different continents.
For further information, please visit: www.eurocloud.org/
Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/EuroCloud
Join our discussions on LinkedIn:
www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2407468&trk=myg_ugrp_ovr
View summary of the January 29 meeting: www.youtube.com/watch?v=pg4WbAgfQKQ
PR