The European Commission is to establish the European Cloud Partnership, which aims to bring together public sector organisations and the IT industry to work on commons requirements for cloud procurement, said Neelie Kroes, the vice-president of the EC with responsibility for Europe's digital agenda.

Speaking at the European Cloud Partnership World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Kroes promised that the commission would invest an initial €10m in the partnership. It will be set up in 2012 and its first results are expected the following year.