Host in Ireland Welcomes Mike Wegwermer, Co-Founder and Director of Circular Data Solutions, to Its Executive Committee
DUBLIN – 13 March, 2018 – Host in Ireland, a strategic global initiative created to increase awareness of the benefits of hosting digital assets in Ireland, and winner of the Datacloud Europe 2016 award for Innovative Data Center Location, today announces that Circular Data Solutions will be a strategic partner in 2018. In addition, Mike Wegwermer, Co-Founder and Director of Circular Data Solutions, will join the Host in Ireland Executive Committee.
“We are pleased to welcome Circular Data Solutions as a Host in Ireland partner,” comments Garry Connolly, Founder and President of Host in Ireland. “We also welcome Mike Wegwermer to our Executive Committee. With the General Data Protection Regulation coming into force this May, Mike’s experience in providing services that enable global data centre operators, financial and healthcare institutions, and government agencies to manage and protect personal data is an immediate asset to one of the initiative’s chief concerns.”
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will replace the existing data protection framework under the EU Data Protection Directive. As a regulation, it will not generally require transposition into Irish law, so organisations involved in data processing of any sort need to be aware of the obligations it imposes. The GDPR emphasises transparency, security and accountability by data controllers, while at the same time standardising and strengthening the right of European citizens to data privacy.
Based in Belfast, Circular Data Solutions, the EMEA distribution partner of SITES, is a division of Security Engineered Machinery Inc. (SEM). Circular Data Solutions is a manufacturer of destruction equipment for ‘end-of-life’ data storage devices, including enterprise hard drives, solid state drives, and all other types of magnetic and digital storage media. With the advent of the GDPR, Circular Data Solutions’ data destruction equipment, and technical and maintenance support services are projected to see increasingly high demand across the EU region.
“Becoming a Host in Ireland partner has enabled us to meet and collaborate with such a diverse cross-section and well-informed group of industry leaders,” states Mike Wegwermer, Director of Circular Data Solutions. “Our goal is to help operators and infrastructure suppliers to data centres think about and plan data destruction solutions as an integral requirement. You can easily, and more cost-effectively remove a potentially damaging data security risk by destroying end-of-life data in-house.”
In addition to spearheading Host in Ireland, Mr. Connolly is Co-Chair of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Awareness Coalition, a not-for-profit initiative designed to raise awareness of the data privacy obligations for companies resulting from the implementation of the GDPR. As EU directives on managing data security transitions into law as the GDPR, Mr. Wegwermer shares Host in Ireland’s and the GDPR Awareness Coalition’s position that every organisation generating or manipulating personal data records, regardless of location, now needs to closely review their data security processes.
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About Host in Ireland
Host in Ireland, winner of the Datacloud Europe 2016 award for Innovative Data Center Location, is an industry-led marketing initiative that provides timely and accurate information about Ireland’s digital asset hosting ecosystem at all times including demonstrating why Ireland is more cost-effective, efficient, reliable, secure and accessible than most other regions across the EU. There’s a reason companies like Microsoft, Zendesk, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, Adobe and beyond have sought to host their solutions in as well as to/from Ireland. Many of these reasons are immediately realized due to access to affordable power, redundant network and bandwidth capacity along with a variety of data center providers that offer an array of services sustained by the “5 Ps”: Policy, People, Pedigree, Pipes, and Power. On top of that is a very attractive business management structure, implemented by Ireland, which is keenly interested to bring new businesses into the market. Ireland supports this initiative through its pro-business approach, attractive corporate tax and fiscal structures, common law based legal system, continued investment in off-Island fiber cables to the U.S. and Europe, financial support for data centre energy efficiency, and access to a skilled native English-speaking workforce – ensuring data asset compliance for companies large and small. For more information about Host in Ireland, visit www.hostinireland.com.
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