Microsoft to invest $1 billion in Poland, including new datacenter

Microsoft announced a plan to invest $1billion in the “Polish Digital Valley” today. The plan focuses on opening a new Microsoft datacenter. The datacenter and rest of the plan will help startups, entrepreneurs, enterprises, and the Polish government access enterprise-grade cloud services. The plan covers the next seven years and focuses on teaching local people how to fully utilize the cloud. Microsoft announced its plans in a recent news post.

Microsoft will work with an estimated 150,000 people, including IT professionals, educators, and students to help transform organizations with technology. The development program will use e-learning programs, workshops, and hackathons to develop people’s skills. Some areas that will be covered include the Internet of Things, machine learning, and artificial intelligence.

Mateusz Morawiecki, prime minister of Poland, expressed the importance of Microsoft’s investment:

I deeply believe that Microsoft’s investment in Poland will be important for enterprises, public institutions and the education system and will enable them to digitally transform and implement new work standards. Our primary goal is to accelerate Poland’s transformation into a technological hub for the region of Central and Eastern Europe.

Part of Microsoft’s investment is a partnership with Chmura Krajowa. Mark Loughran, general manager, Microsoft Poland, discussed that partnership and how Poland can evolve in the technology sector:

Poland has the opportunity to be the digital heart of Europe. This is why today we are announcing a partnership with Chmura Krajowa, and one of the biggest investments in digital technology in Poland ever of $1 billion investment in skilling, digital transformation support, and building a Microsoft global-scale and trusted cloud region, giving our customers and strong local partner ecosystem access to our world-class digital technology and innovative cloud solutions all located here in Poland.

With the addition of the upcoming Microsoft cloud datacenter, Microsoft has announced 59 supported cloud regions. Microsoft Azure is now available in 140 countries.

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