The Communications and Information Technology Commission is negotiating with more than one global technology company to establish a regional free zone for cloud data storage, on an area of one million square meters.
Informed sources told Al-Rai negotiations are in advanced stage and the 100,000 square meters that the Tech Commission currently owns will be allocated for this purpose. The Commission has requested the Kuwait Municipality to allocate 3 plots of land to build storage centers, each on an area of approximately 300,000 square meters.
The sources stated that in the event of the final agreement, Kuwait will not bear any cost to build the targeted free cloud zone. The expenses will have to be borne by the foreign party, on condition the state provides construction facilities, foremost of which are easing procedures for these companies to enter Kuwait, plots of land to build these facilities and facilitate linking the service to Viber.
The sources indicated the commission has recently presented a plan to the concerned officials a plan that centers on enhancing the country’s non-oil resources by developing the information sector and digital economy. The studies prepared in this regard show if regional central units are built for cloud data, the GDP will record growth in leaps and bounds.
This is in addition to the economic and human investment that Kuwait will benefit from greatly, given that the cloud data free zone will absorb the data of government agencies and the private sector that are prohibited from being stored abroad, and the data of neighboring countries, which constitutes a new resource whose returns will make a tangible difference in the general budget.
Regarding the expected date for the completion of building the targeted cloud data banks, the sources suggested that this will happen within a year of activating the executive regulations, which prohibit storing government agency data “cloud” outside Kuwait starting from February 11, especially if the data is highly sensitive or private.