Google said on Monday it is launching a cloud region in Qatar, its first in the Gulf state, boosting the country’s efforts to transform itself into a digital economy through innovation.
A cloud region is the geographic area in which a cloud data centre is located.
The move is expected to contribute $18.9 billion to Qatar’s economic output between 2023 and 2030, and create 25,000 jobs in 2030 alone, according to findings of research commissioned by Google Cloud and conducted by Access Partnership.
The opening of the Doha cloud region follows Google’s recent opening of a country office and virtual centre of excellence in Msheireb, Doha.
Built in partnership with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and Qatar Free Zone Authority, the cloud region – a complex that houses at least two data centres – aims to meet growing demand for cloud services in Qatar and the wider Middle East region.
Google said its cloud services eliminate the need for customers to own or operate physical data centres and servers by themselves, supporting the growth ambitions of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in Qatar, which make up 97 per cent of all registered private sector companies.
The new Doha region is part of Google Cloud’s global network of 37 regions and 112 zones that bring cloud services to more than 200 countries and territories worldwide.
Alphabet’s Google is spending billions of dollars globally to compete with Amazon and Microsoft in cloud technology. It is considering plans to build more data centres in the Middle East, a key market and one of fastest growing regions for the company’s business.
