Earlier today, Steve Ballmer spoke at the University of Washington on the topic, "The Cloud: Exciting New Possibilities." We've embedded a video of the speech below. But first, a few key points and some resources.

Ballmer called the cloud, "The bet for our company," echoing Bill Gates's statement about .NET some years ago. But the cloud isn't just a bet about the future, as Ballmer made clear. The cloud is here now -- in Windows Azure and other services, as well as in offerings from competitors and services from partners. The video includes a great demonstration of Bing Maps, which helps visualize the value that can emerge from cloud-based data aggregation, analysis, and presentation.

Of special note for Voices of Innovation members, Ballmer said that we have an "imperfect regulatory environment," but this environment should not be a barrier to moving forward.

You can learn more at the main Microsoft Cloud Services site and at the Cloud News Center. Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President for Technology Strategy and Policy Daniel Reed also writes a thought-provoking blog, "Cloud Seeding: Stimulating Discovery and Innovation," which provides some context for Ballmer's speech. And now here's the video...