Qatar's Ministry of Transportation and Communications partners with Microsoft to establish a new cloud data center region.

Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani attended a ceremony announcing the establishment of a new cloud datacenter region in Qatar, developed through cooperation between the Ministry of Transport and Communications (MoTC) and Microsoft. The partnership will expand Microsoft's global cloud infrastructure to 55 cloud regions in 20 countries. The new region is anticipated to be available starting with Microsoft Azure in 2021, with Office 365, Dynamics 365 and Power Platform to follow. The facility will be managed from the Qatari Free Zones to demonstrate their capabilities as a modern and distinctive incubator for such initiatives, enhancing self-sufficiency, sustainability, and the local environment.

Minister of Transport and Communications H E Jassim bin Saif Al Sulaiti stated: "This collaboration with Microsoft comes as part of accelerating the efforts led by the Government of Qatar to implement the country's digital transformation agenda and build a knowledge-based economy as laid down in the Qatar National Vision 2030." The Ministry seeks to make the cloud datacenter region available with Microsoft Azure by 2021, positioning Qatar as a region center contributing to development across the region and the world. The cloud datacenter will support innovation in healthcare services, scientific research in artificial intelligence and education, and sports event management solutions and applications.

Government entities, organizations, public and private enterprises and developers will have access to scalable, highly available, and resilient cloud services to accelerate their digital transformation journeys, better engage customers, empower employees, optimize operations, and transform products and services. Jean-Philippe Courtois, EVP and President of Microsoft Global Sales, Marketing and Operations, stated: "The new Microsoft cloud region will deliver unprecedented opportunity for government and businesses in Qatar to successfully embark on their digital transformation journey. Intelligent cloud services are at the heart of our efforts to help establish the country as a knowledge and innovation hub, and builds on our investments to develop a cloud region in Qatar. We expect it will also help drive economic growth, upskill the workforce, and provide a foundation for the country in line with the Qatar National Vision 2030."

The new cloud region will play a pivotal role in bridging the skills gap in Qatar. Microsoft is collaborating with the Qatar Digital Government to launch a nationwide upskilling program that will train government employees in cloud technologies. The cloud region will adhere to Microsoft's trusted cloud principles and become part of one of the largest cloud infrastructures in the world, already serving more than a billion customers and 20 million businesses. The services are compliant with the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and certified for a large portfolio of international security and privacy standards, including the Ministry of Transport and Communications National Information Assurance Policy and the Cloud Security and Information Privacy Protection regulations. The new region will offer Microsoft's scalable, trusted and reliable cloud services combined with in-country customer data residency.