Tçnâ koe Te Hiria,

 

Thank you for your email of 1 April 2025 to the Department of Internal
Affairs (the Department) requesting the following information:

 

1. All internal emails, memos, or cabinet papers (2023-present) containing
the phrases ‘CLOUD Act’ or ‘sovereign cloud.’

2. Any risk assessments comparing data hosted in U.S. clouds (e.g., AWS,
Azure) versus NZ-based infrastructure.

 

As currently worded, part one of your information request is very broad in
nature. It would potentially include a significant volume of information,
which would in turn require a substantial amount of time to collate. As
such, it is likely that part one of your request would be refused under
section 18(f) of the Act as the information requested cannot be made
available without substantial collation or research.

 

In the hope that we may be able to avoid refusing this part of your
request, we would be grateful if you could clarify the nature of the
information you are looking for. Identifying the specific information you
are trying to find will help us find the relevant information for you.
Would you be amenable to re-scoping part one of your request to the
following:

o internal emails, memos or cabinet papers (2023-present) containing the
phrases ‘CLOUD Act’ or ‘sovereign cloud’, that were sent/received by
(past and present) key personnel involved in the Government Chief
Digital Officer (GCDO)’s now closed Cloud work programme, and
sent/received by key GCDO personnel who have an ongoing role in
Cloud-related activities?

 

Please advise if you are amenable to the above clarification. We look
forward to hearing from you. Please respond by 5pm 23 April 2025 so that
we can commence work on your request.

 

In the meantime, you may be aware that the Department has proactively
released all recent Cloud Cabinet papers and memos at:
[1]www.dia.govt.nz/diawebsite.nsf/Files/Proactive-releases-2023/$file/Proposals-for-refreshing-the-Cloud-First-Policy-and-strengthening-cloud-adoption-across-the-public-service-16-May-2023.pdf

In addition, you may be interested in the following publicly available
information:
[2]www.digital.govt.nz/standards-and-guidance/technology-and-architecture/cloud-services/assess-the-risks/cloud-jurisdictional-risk-guidance
and
[3]www.digital.govt.nz/dmsdocument/249~all-of-government-cloud-sourcing-strategy/html

 

Nâku noa, nâ

 

Ministerial and Official Correspondence Team
Toi Hiranga | Regulation & Policy
Te Tari Taiwhenua | Department of Internal Affairs

 

 

 

 

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Tēna koe,

 

Please find enclosed the Department of Internal Affairs’ response to your
Official Information Act 1982 request of 1 April 2025.

 

Ngā mihi,

 

Ministerial and Official Correspondence Team
Toi Hiranga | Regulation & Policy
Te Tari Taiwhenua | Department of Internal Affairs

 

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