Adopting cloud computing in the Pakistan Navy

Abstract

Pakistan’s proximity to the Strait of Hormuz, through which millions of barrels of oil is shipped per day, makes it a gateway to Central Asian countries. The Pakistan coastline stretches to almost 1,000 kilometers and has an exclusive economic zone of 290,000 km2. As a flag bearer of protecting the country’s sea lines of communication and safeguarding its maritime territories, the Pakistan Navy is in the continuous process of modernization. Although a robust command and control structure exists for the accomplishment of peacetime and wartime objectives, there is still a need to adopt up-to-date procedures that can ensure the two-way exchange of information in near real-time and provide access to information from anywhere around the globe. This thesis explores the peculiarities of cloud computing and its potential utility to the Pakistan Navy. After an in-depth analysis of the country’s information technology environment, the scope and utility of cloud computing in the country, and the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Navy, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology cloud architectures, a framework has been laid out for adopting cloud computing in the Pakistan Navy.