GitHub to Offer EU Data Residency for Cloud Customers: What You Need to Know
In a move to meet regulatory requirements and customer expectations around data protection, GitHub will soon allow enterprise cloud customers to store their code data in the European Union (EU). Starting from October 29, customers will be able to select an EU region to store their code, with plans to extend this support to other regions in the future.
This shift towards digital sovereignty aligns with Europe's agenda to have greater control over its infrastructure and data. Companies like Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and Oracle are all making efforts to localize data storage to appease regulators and users.
The benefits of storing data locally include lower data-transfer latency, which can be crucial for AI-assisted software development. GitHub's AI Copilot product, only fully available through the cloud, could also attract more customers as they transition to local data residency.
While there are no specific regulations mandating data residency in the EU, laws like GDPR and the upcoming EU AI Act indirectly influence where organizations choose to store their data. By giving customers greater control over where their data is stored, companies can better manage their data and take advantage of cloud services like GitHub Copilot.
Overall, this move by GitHub is not just about regulatory compliance, but also about meeting customer preferences and leveraging cloud technologies for enhanced data management and software development. As the world becomes more data-driven, having control over where data is stored is becoming increasingly important for businesses across industries.