This chapter introduces the subject matter of the book, provides the core problem statement and defines the central terms used in the book. The introduction also explains the focus on governmental adoption of cloud computing services, legal sources, and the research approach.

The introduction explains how cloud computing has made it possible and desirable for users, such as businesses and governments, to migrate their data to be hosted on infrastructure managed by third parties. The chapter further outlines why aspects of migration to cloud services pose specific legal, contractual, and technical challenges for governments.

The chapter further outlines the challenge of addressing contracting and procurement requirements, data privacy and jurisdictional obligations when using an opaque, global, multi-tenant technology such as cloud computing.