MANILA - PLDT on Thursday announced that it has launched the country’s first “sovereign cloud”, which aims to help fast-track the digitalization of the government.

“A sovereign cloud is a cloud-based infrastructure and service that is owned and operated by a domestic organization,” PLDT said.

The company said its ICT subsidiary, ePLDT, will operate the ePLDT Pilipinas Cloud (ePPC) which can host “highly sensitive government data and applications in a trusted cloud environment.”

“This affirms our support for the government’s digitalization push and our commitment to continuously power the digital future of the nation by providing the necessary infrastructure that enables inclusive economic growth," said PLDT and Smart Inc President and CEO and ePLDT Chairman Alfredo Panlilio.

Many countries use sovereign clouds so that government institutions maintain control and security over their mission-critical data in compliance with each country’s respective local regulations, PLDT said.

The ePPC guarantees strict enforcement of the Philippines’ data protection law and regulations and ensures that all sensitive data are stored, and processed locally in a secure and compliant manner, PLDT said.

The cloud ensures that data such as classified information related to national security and confidential personal information of citizens is free from foreign surveillance or interception, and cyber-attacks, and cannot be accessed without authorization.

“As the government intensifies its digitalization efforts, ePPC can provide a platform for agencies and LGUs to benefit from cloud technology while effectively addressing data sovereignty and cybersecurity issues,” the company added.

The Department of Information and Communications Technology also lauded the launch of ePPPC.

“We look forward to the positive impact of ePPC in fast-tracking digitization and putting the Philippines on the world map as an emerging leader in cloud computing technology,” said ICT Secretary Ivan Uy.

ePPC is also expected to help reduce latency and improve the performance and response time of critical applications which translates to better user experience.

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The Philippines launched the eGov super app earlier this year which aims to to streamline all government transactions and boost the digitalization of the bureaucracy.

Meanwhile, several government agencies have recently suffered data breaches, over what some experts say is a lax approach to data privacy and cybersecurity.

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