Abstract
This book chapter conceptualizes the plan of an autonomous community to cover the information technology needs by adopting cloud computing on a community level. Community cloud computing is a solution with many advantages that can help the community to cover sufficiently their technology needs or even generate income by renting virtual resources. This is a theoretical approach that can be used as a conceptual tool for small municipalities or other communities that intend to extend their technological and political autonomy.
TopGovernance As A Cloud Computing Service
In this section we are exploring the concept of community in order to improve Government as a Service.
Community cloud computing and cloud computing have the same philosophy; they distribute software, hardware and application resources among users. According to Manion (2004): «People in a country with a high degree of political freedom can participate in the political process more openly and actively, which in turn helps alleviate corruption by empowering people to monitor the exercise of the official power». At community level, it means that if people participate in the electronic governance of the community, then they can help in the minimization of the corruption. This is an important reason in order to explore the actual participation of the autonomous community in the electronic governance. There are two types of community cloud computing that depend on the management of the server side components (Badger, 2011):
- 1.
On-Site Community Cloud: The management and the maintenance of the server are being implemented by the members of the community.
- 2.
Outsourced Community Cloud: The management and the maintenance of the server outsource to a private company.
These two types of community cloud computing are going to influence governance in various levels regarding its distribution and application. The most interesting example is the case of self governed communities such as small municipalities or villages. Users could be divided into those who only act as citizens and those who manage the server’s tasks, but remain citizens as well (Figure 1). It is important that everyone is obliged to obey the rules of the community.
Figure 1. On-site community cloud computing
Key Terms in this Chapter
Virtual Organization: An organization that operates through a public or private electronic network.
Government as a Service: Virtual governance that service platform in which both software and data are located on the cloud.
Online Community: A community that operates through a public or private electronic network.
Community Cloud: A community operated platform for delivering electronic services from any place and in any time.
Cloud Computing: A platform for delivering electronic services from any place and in any time.
Semantic Web: A conversion of the World Wide Web that stores information in webpages which is readable from other computers and will be used for the understanding of the webpage's content.
Web 2.0: The inclusion of social elements on the World Wide Web.