# Commercial Cloud Migration **Domain:** Infrastructure / Data Systems **Doc Type:** Concept Node **Classification:** Infrastructure Concept **Maturity:** Evolving **Related:** [[Cloud Platforms]], [[Commercial Cloud Platforms]], [[Data Concentration]], [[Technology Dependence]], [[Infrastructure Control]], [[Privatization]] --- ## Definition **Commercial Cloud Migration** refers to **the process through which government agencies, research institutions, and international bodies move data storage, computational processing, and analytical systems from independently-operated infrastructure to privately-controlled cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud), creating dependency on corporate service providers**. Migration concentrates data control and creates lock-in. --- ## General Context Cloud migration offers efficiency (outsourced maintenance, elastic scaling, cost predictability) and creates dependencies (vendor lock-in, data concentration, commercial terms). Government adoption of cloud platforms is widespread: cloud provides computational capacity that would be expensive to build independently. The cost is loss of direct control—data is encrypted and access controlled by corporations. Cloud migration has concentrated data ownership in hands of American technology firms, affecting data sovereignty and intelligence asymmetries. --- ## Climate Meritocracy Context NOAA's migration to AWS (2015) exemplifies climate data migration. [[articles/How Reparative Justice Became Meritocracy|Reparative Justice text]] describes the institutional transformation as [[articles/How Meteorology Climatology and Climate Data Shape the World|climate data into strategic intelligence]]. --- ## Key Insight Commercial cloud migration transfers data sovereignty from public institutions to private corporations—converting public investment into proprietary assets and creating strategic dependencies. --- ## See Also [[Big Data Project]], [[Climate Data Infrastructure]], [[American Data Safe Haven]], [[Commercial Cloud Platforms]], [[Climate Data Hosting]]