Tech & Sourcing @ Morgan Lewis

Increasingly, companies have been looking to shift from non-cloud IT infrastructure to cloud-based solutions, and have allocated higher monetary resources to cloud-based IT infrastructure products such as compute and storage infrastructure. In fact, as reported by the International Data Corporation (IDC), Q1 of 2022 marked the first time that companies are now spending more money on their cloud-based compute and storage infrastructure than they are on their non-cloud-based IT infrastructure.

In June 2022, the UK government published its cross-government UK Digital Strategy for creating a world-leading environment in which to grow digital businesses. The Digital Strategy brings together various initiatives on digitalization and data-driven technologies, including the National AI Strategy. The government states that it is actively seeking to grow expertise in deep technologies of the future, such as artificial intelligence, next generation semiconductors, digital twins, autonomous systems, and quantum computing.

The COVID-19 pandemic introduced unprecedented challenges, requiring companies to adapt quickly to the way their personnel work, changes in their business offerings, and how they interact with their customers and suppliers. With some time to adjust to the “new normal” of the pandemic (and hopefully soon, the post-pandemic), many companies are looking ahead—with a potential economic downturn being top of mind.

As we all try to keep up with the Metaverse and as the healthcare system wilts under a data deluge, the convergence of realities in a shared online space is not merely a chance for practitioners and patients to find each other and interact in new ways, it’s also a rare opportunity to help a new paradigm sprout. The answers to detangling some sticky wickets of Health 2.0, like ensuring efficient, secure communications and exchanges between participants, may share a common thread: clear out (not just debug) the cobwebs and flip the crypt.

As we discussed in Part 1 of this blog series, many SaaS providers are seizing opportunities to expand their offerings and become a go-to marketplace or network, but their original contract terms and procedures often don’t fit their evolving business models.

As more and more SaaS providers, in digital health, fintech, and other industries, look for ways to integrate with and offer third-party applications (in their quest for powerful network effects), they eventually reach a point where the reality contemplated by their original standard terms and the world (or metaverse) of their now-envisioned business model diverge.

In late 2021, the Luxembourg Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF) published Circular CSSF 21/785 (the Circular), which introduced a more relaxed approach on the communication requirements in relation to material IT outsourcing (including to cloud-based infrastructures).

The unfolding conflict in Eastern Europe is likely going to cause a wide-ranging impact to companies with business operations or personnel in the region. For technology and commercial contracting professionals, this means potential contract disputes, force majeure issues, business continuity implications, and cybersecurity concerns.

As technology and the use of the internet continue to evolve, lawmakers remain focused on setting a legal framework for businesses operating “online” in Russia. In 2021, the Russian regulatory landscape underwent significant changes, which will no doubt have an impact on how tech and media companies conduct their business in Russia.

Many organizations have longstanding sustainability initiatives for reducing waste through efforts such as recycling or reductions in printing. However, organizations are now also looking to their use of technology to help improve the sustainability of their operations.