ABU DHABI, In a step that confirms the UAE global position as a regional and global hub for digital economy and digital transformation, Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced that it will open data centres in the UAE in the first half of 2022.
Through its data centres, AWS will provide a variety of innovative services and solutions for companies operating in various fields such as health care, financial services, advertising, marketing, manufacturing, travel and hospitality, among others.
This step supports the UAE strategies related to digital transformation and future based digital and sustainable knowledge society and economy. It also reflects the high confidence in the UAE’s investment environment by international companies that aspire to expand their activities and prepare for major and accelerating digital changes represented in the Fourth Industrial Revolution and solutions supported by artificial intelligence and big data.
Commenting on this step, Hamad Obaid Al Mansoori, Director-General of the Telecommunications And Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA), said, “AWS choice to open its data centres in the UAE is important and has deep implications and connotations, the most important of which is the UAE attractive investment environment and strong infrastructure in various fields, particularly the ICT sector, the UAE’s efficiency in keeping pace with best global experiences, and its regional leadership in digital government, in addition to its distinguished geostrategic location as a centre connecting continents and enhancing global interaction.”
He added, “This step comes in the year of the 50th, as we prepare to conclude half-century of the union’s journey, and start the next 50, which will be full of achievements that require more cooperation and participation between the private and public sectors at the internal or global level. Today, we live in a digital world in which networking has become a milestone through cloud infrastructure that has enabled the world to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In the UAE, we were among the first to leverage the cloud to provide digital solutions since the early days of the pandemic, as we succeeded in transformation towards remote work and distance learning. While other countries regionally and globally were forced to close schools and postpone studies, the school year in the UAE was not affected, and the wheel of production continued in various sectors. The cloud infrastructure supported the health sector, and millions of people were able to obtain their needs through e-commerce platforms, both existing and emerging.”
Al Mansoori thanked the UAE telecom companies for their achievements over the past years and decades.
He said, “The choice of AWS and other international companies to base their services in the UAE would not have been possible without the accumulative and vigilant efforts of the UAE telecommunications companies. They have always been partners in the process of construction and renaissance by providing the best services to companies and individuals, through a pioneering and advanced infrastructure.”
Al Mansoori highlighted that “the UAE’s approach and directives of the wise leadership made the UAE a hub the most important companies working in the technical field. Today the UAE hosts the largest tech companies, and we are proud of AWS’s decision to open data centres in the UAE.”
“This decision will enhance the UAE regional and global position, contribute to creating advanced, efficient and flexible cloud computing services in the region, and will encourage the acceleration of integrated and comprehensive digital transformation, which will positively affect the quality, competitiveness and efficiency of services provided by companies to their customers. Cloud services in the region will contribute to enhancing the culture of innovation, especially among emerging companies and entrepreneurs, to build globally competitive digital services and products. This will also create new job opportunities in the country in the ICT field. TDRA, as the entity responsible for developing the ICT sector, welcomes and encourages these investments in the UAE, given their role in enhancing the UAE global leadership in the ICT sector,” he continued.
TDRA highlighted the UAE’s leading position in digital transformation, as a result of decisions and measures taken by the Government that have contributed to the development of strong infrastructure, government departments and institutions capable of keeping pace with the times in attracting investments related to data centres, and providing all services related to hosting and managing data for all government departments without the need to export it to other sites in the world.
TDRA confirmed that the investment environment in the UAE has stimulated tech companies to establish regional centres for hosting and managing data, to provide all services related to the development of all technical industries, especially the ones related to ICT, artificial intelligence, Internet of things, autonomous transportation, blockchain and other future technical industries.
Millions of customers around the world use AWS services, including tens of thousands of customers in the MENA region rely on AWS services to innovate.
AWS is powering the data journey of the Hope Probe mission, the first UAE space probe, enabling data to be processed and analyzed from the probe’s instruments and accessed by the global scientific community in less than 20 minutes, which enhances the importance of Hope Probe role in discovering Mars and revealing more about the planet.
Source: Emirates News Agency