Microsoft will establish its first data centre region in Malaysia as part of the “Bersama Malaysia” (Together with Malaysia) initiative to advance the country’s digital transformation across the private and public sectors.
With this move, the software giant will be able to deliver trusted cloud services locally, with world-class data security, privacy, and the ability to store data in-country.
It also intends to train an additional one million Malaysians by end of 2023 to help create economic opportunities for people and businesses in the digital era. This involves working with various agencies and local universities to reach people of all socio-economic backgrounds, including young adults and people living with disabilities.
Another development involves Microsoft helping to form the MyDigital Alliance Leadership Council to collaborate on cloud-first and digital-native policy recommendations. The alliance has discussed digitalisation in the education sector to nurture a globally competitive Malaysian digital workforce.
“This significant investment from Microsoft further fortifies Malaysia’s position as a potential regional data hub and we stand ever ready to welcome more such partners as we work with our stakeholders to continually improve Malaysia’s value proposition in this big data space,” said YAB Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Prime Minister of Malaysia.
According to Jean-Philippe Courtois, Executive Vice President and President of Microsoft Global Sales, Marketing and Operations, his company shares the Malaysian government’s commitment that digital transformation must be inclusive and responsible.
“Building digital infrastructure is fundamental to advancing a nation’s digital economy. The upcoming data centre region will be a game-changer for Malaysia, enabling the government and businesses to reimagine and transform their operations, to the benefit of all citizens,” he said.
The new data centre region will also deliver Azure Availability Zones, providing additional resilience options for highly available applications, and support Microsoft’s sustainability goals.
Microsoft has a global commitment to shift to 100 percent supply of renewable energy by 2025.
Photo: Microsoft
Entelechy Asia 