Microsoft Corp. said on Friday it would create a data center in Italy with a $1.5 billion investment plan as the company expands its cloud computing services to more locations across the world.
In February, Microsoft announced plans to open a new data center region in Spain and earlier this week the company said it would invest $1 billion in Poland as part of plans to open a data centre to provide cloud services to businesses and institutions.
The new datacenter region will be based in the Milan area, joining Microsoft’s other 60 regions announced globally.
Under a five-year plan, Microsoft will provide access to local cloud services and launch digital skilling and smart-working and artificial intelligence programmes for small and medium enterprises.
“We’re investing $1.5 billion in Italy over the next five years, as part of our commitment to accelerate the country’s digital transformation.” said Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft.