One of the most important aspects of Cloud computing is the potential it offers for "BRE" - Business Retention and Expansion.

These are the government programs concerned with economic development at a local level : Attracting new businesses, helping existing ones grow, and so on. For example amongst many others Ontario, the City of Surrey and Newfoundland each have one.

More specifically, there are a number of trends that are growth opportunities in their own right, but it's their combination that offers a multiplying effect for local economic development.

• Cloud computing - This represents modernization of technology.
• Green Data-centres - Clouds can operate in data-centres powered by new, renewable energy sources.
• G-Cloud Outsourcing - These can be deployed as part of a program where local governments play the part of "anchor tenant"

Cloud computing is an exploding IT industry throughout the world, with governments being key adopters, to reduce IT costs and improve business/IT alignment. They are also charged with an imperative to adopt new Green practices, as well as finding efficiencies through new operating models, so "Green G-Clouds" are a way of ticking all these boxes at one time.

By outsourcing government applications to local green G-Cloud providers, rather than operating them in-house, government IT departments can play a key role in helping stimulate the local economy.

If Canada pioneers leadership in this area, they'll create a local expertise with global export potential, so it further accelerates economic growth.

And it wouldn't require starting from scratch. Taxpayers have already funded early projects in this area, such as the GreenStar Network.