By Nayla Barakat

Manama, Mar. 30 (BNA): Bahrain on Wednesday announced a plan to set up the region’s first state-of-the-art data center to cater for the needs of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

stc Bahrain, an operating company part of stc Group, a digital enabler, has announced a strategic partnership with the Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunications to launch a first-of-its-kind technology park in the region.

stc Bahrain signed an agreement for acquiring 55,000 square meters’ land on lease from the government of Bahrain to develop the project in Al Qurain.

The project will also be one of the first initiatives in energy efficiency, driving local innovation towards the use of renewable energy.

The new technology park will push new boundaries in the digital field and contribute to Bahrain’s digital economy in line with Bahrain’s Economic Vision 2030.

In addition to diversifying the economy, the project will focus on uplifting local talent within the tech field. Furthermore, it will offer benefits to local citizens through the localised storage of data that will be closer to end users.

“We are pleased with the launch of such an initiative which serves in achieving the objectives of the Fifth National Telecommunications Plan and the recently launched ICT and Digital Economy Strategy which aims at further developing the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector in the Kingdom in line with various initiatives put forth to achieve the Kingdom’s comprehensive development goals, led by HM King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, and in establishing a world-class digital infrastructure,” Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications Kamal bin Ahmed Mohammed said.

Talking to Bahrain News Agency (BNA) on the sidelines of the agreement signing ceremony, Kamal bin Ahmed said that he was pleased to sign a partnership agreement with stc for establishing, one of the biggest data centre in our region, Technology Park.

“Today, everybody’s talking about the digital economy and the need to benefit from digital economic and economic benefits when you have the digital infrastructure,” he said.

stc Bahrain Board Chairman Mohammed Alhakbani thanked the Government of Bahrain for its trust in stc Bahrain to deliver one of the most impactful technology parks that will enable building a data Mena hub as part of stc Group strategy dare2.0.

“We are hoping to continue our strategic partnership to develop more tech projects in the future that will empower the digital economy,” he said.

“We are very excited to be at the forefront of one of the most important technology projects within Bahrain. The new technology park will provide the foundation for the digitisation of sectors across Bahrain, nurture local talent, and host the growing demand for data,” Eng. Nezar Banabeela, CEO of stc Bahrain, told BNA.

“As digital enablers, we are proud to be one of the key players leading the path of Bahrain’s journey to digital transformation and empowering the tech ecosystem.”

The project is in line with stc Group strategic objectives to build a Mena digital hub and invest in breakthrough technologies as a global telecommunications and ICT player. stc Bahrain has been instrumental in driving transformation within Bahrain – a population that is tech-savvy with an advanced digital infrastructure, he added.

Source Credit: www.bna.bh