The cloud is a metaphor for the network of data centers which store and compute the information available for the Internet. Essentially, instead of describing a complex web of software, computers, network, and security systems, all of that has been combined into one word: "cloud". When we talk about cloud computing, we're talking about the technology and processes needed to store, manage, and access data running on programs and transferred over the "cloud" instead of remaining on your computer's hard drive. For most large organizations, such as companies, governments, or education providers, secure and easy data collection and processing is a critical factor to operating properly and delivering products or services. Historically though, they have had to spend a substantial amount of money upfront for the necessary infrastructure to store and process their data. However, as they grow in size, the cost of maintaining and setting up new infrastructures substantially increases too. Companies such as Google Cloud have invested heavily in their infrastructure, creating vast digital spaces to store and process data, and now they're helping other organizations around the world by offering them the use of this platform to run their applications at scale. This has generated massive cost reductions for companies that operated data warehouses without scale economies, and allowed software developers around the world to access well-established IT infrastructures. But how is this different from information technologies as we have known them for decades, and why is this so transformative? One of the most common judgment errors when we are faced with a radically new technology is to assume it was meant for prior use cases. For instance, we all agree that the laptop is much better for typing a message than the typewriter. But computers are not only meant to send text messages. The same is true for the cloud. It is not meant to only run databases as local mainframes used to do, or to be "just storage space" in a safe location. The cloud can do both of these things, of course. But these are only a small part of what's possible. It's what you can do with the data that opens the door for something so transformative; it's how you can take advantage of already established global-scale IT infrastructures and leverage vast compute power that makes revolutionary new applications possible. Cloud technology can map, understand, and predict human behavior, human biology, global industrial systems, and every other complex and dynamic environment, which we could only dream of figuring out in the past. This means that in the same way electricity powered light bulbs, radios, and computers, cloud technology is powering a new range of applications that include predictive models and artificial intelligence. It enables and redefines our ability to collaborate, perceive, categorize, predict, and recommend in every industry and for every activity. These are the five superpowers of the cloud which are radically reshaping business. We will explore them further in the coming modules. For now, let's learn more about what it means for businesses to face such a radical paradigm shift.