Amazon Web Services to Open Data Centers in UAE
Amazon Web Services (AWS), an Amazon.com company, plans to open an infrastructure region in the UAE in the first half of 2022, it announced on May 26. The new AWS Middle East (UAE) region will consist of three availability zones (data centers) and become AWS’s second region in the Middle East after Bahrain. It will enable local customers with data residency requirements to store their data in the UAE, while also providing even lower latency across the country. The new region will build upon AWS’s existing investment in the country, which includes two AWS Direct Connect locations and two Amazon CloudFront edge locations launched in 2018. Organisations using this region will also be able to access advanced technologies from the suite of cloud services to drive innovation including compute, storage, networking, database, analytics, machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT), mobile services and more. The company aims to continue to build teams of skilled individuals to help customers transition to AWS. To foster entrepreneurship and the growth of new businesses in the UAE, AWS will be further expanding the AWS Activate programme to support the UAE’s startups and SMBs. Dr. Tariq Bin Hendi, director general of the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO), said: “We welcome the upcoming AWS Region, which will bring advanced cloud infrastructure to the UAE. This comes in line with our goal of attracting investments that boost technology capabilities. We look forward to collaborating with AWS across the knowledge economy, including education initiatives, cloud skills training, and startup enablement programmes.” Globally, AWS has 80 availability zones across 25 geographic regions, with plans to launch 18 more and six more AWS regions in Australia, India, Indonesia, Spain, Switzerland, and the UAE.