Microsoft on Thursday, February 25, announced its plans to establish its first datacenter region in Indonesia that will allow it to deliver cloud services locally more efficiently, and with data being stored locally in the country.

The plan is part of its Berdayakan Ekonomi Digital Indonesia initiative, which Microsoft says marks a “significant commitment to advancing growth and digital transformation in Indonesia.”

Along with the datacenter, Microsoft is planning to provide skills training to 3 million Indonesians to “create inclusive economic opportunities in the digital era.”

The skills training initiative is being done in collaboration with 4 universities and Indonesia’s Ministry of Communications and Information, and “extends across backgrounds, including students and teachers, those in mid-career, home makers, and people from disadvantaged communities.”

The training will up-skill Indonesians in AI, cybersecurity, and data science through a digital literacy curriculum.

Research firm International Data Corporation (IDC) reports Microsoft’s investment in Indonesia will generate up to US$6.3 billion in new revenues from the country’s ecosystem of local customers and partners while its cloud-consuming businesses are expected to contribute 60,000 jobs to the local economy, over the next 4 years.

“The Ministry of Communication and Information welcomes Microsoft’s plans to establish a local datacenter region with highly secure and compliant cloud services, which will benefit local businesses, government, and individuals across all sectors. We also welcome Microsoft’s commitment to increase the capacity of Indonesian digital talent across all skill levels,” said Johnny Plate, minister of communication and information, Indonesia.

Microsoft’s Jean-Philippe Courtois, executive vice president and president of Microsoft global sales, marketing and operations said the announcement is “our most significant investment in the 26 years we have been established here.”  

“With a local datacenter region, businesses will have faster access to cloud services and the ability for data to be stored in country. To ensure everyone can take advantage of the digital opportunities ahead, we will continue to support digital skilling, with a new program that will reach over 24 million Indonesians by the end of 2021,” said

Microsoft in Indonesia has 150 employees and 7,000 partners including those in the startup community.

Indonesia’s datacenter region will join Microsoft’s 60 overall globally, and will be the second one in Southeast Asia after Singapore.

With the datacenter, businesses in the region will have more robust access to Microsoft’s cloud computing service Azure. The full list of Azure Availability Zones are found here.

Microsoft said that its Indonesia datacenter region will also support Microsoft’s sustainability goals, including the commitment to shift to 100% supply of renewable energy in Microsoft datacenters by 2025. – Rappler.com