Microsoft announced $1 billion digital investment plan in Poland

Microsoft has today announced a $1 billion digital investment plan in Poland, which includes its first data centre in the region providing cloud services to business and government. The project will Poland’s largest ever IT investment, reports Wprost.

The American software giant has signed a strategic partnership with Chmura Krajowa (National Cloud), an organisation formed in 2018 by the Polish Development Fund (PFR) and PKO BP, Poland’s largest bank, to speed up digitalisation of businesses and public administration.

The seven-year public-private partnership will support the “Polish Digital Valley” initiative, spanning sectors including government, health, education, manufacturing, retail, energy, finance and insurance.

The new data centre, Microsoft’s first such project in Central and Eastern Europe, will likely be based in Warsaw or on the outskirts of the capital, reports Wprost.

Poland has sought to position itself as a regional centre for technology in recent years. Last year, Google also announced plans to open a cloud hub in Poland serving the CEE region, also in partnership with the PFR and PKO BP.

Notes from Poland / WProst