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Oracle Cloud Regions to drive innovation across the UAE

Abu Dhabi - Oracle plans to have at least 44 cloud regions by the end of 2022, continuing one of the fastest expansions of any major cloud provider

Oracle has announced that its second cloud region in the UAE is now live, with the Oracle Cloud Abu Dhabi now joining its Dubai peer in providing a secure, advanced, and agile platform for organisations to leverage the full potential of the latest digital technologies.

These technologies include Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), Machine Learning, and Blockchain, which will be utilised to achieve strategic business objectives across the region. Like the Oracle Cloud Dubai, the Abu Dhabi location will offer all Oracle Cloud services, including Oracle Autonomous Database and Oracle Cloud Applications.

Industry experts and officials at the launch event on Wednesday morning said that the launch of both cloud regions will play a key role in supporting the UAE’s Fourth Industrial Revolution Strategy, which was launched to advance the national economy by driving innovation with the latest emerging technologies.

“Our design principal is to have two data centres in each country and this is why we have the Dubai data centre, which is followed by Abu Dhabi,” said Abiy Yeshitla, vice president - Cloud, Middle East & Africa regions at Oracle. “Similarly, in KSA, we have one in Jeddah, and another one soon coming up The Middle East and Africa region is arguably one of the fastest cloud vendors in the world.”

“Oracle’s decision to open a second cloud region in the UAE is a clear reflection of our nation’s embrace of digital transformation, advanced technologies and the applications of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which have become central to our economic and investment strategy for the next 50 years,” said Dr. Thani Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade.

He added: “We are committed to developing an innovative- and knowledge-based economy that encourages the development and deployment of the technologies of the future, and attracting human, financial and technological capital to the nation is central to these ambitions. Oracle’s continued investment into the UAE will only accelerate this process, providing critical infrastructure, expertise and insights to further elevate the UAE’s standing as a place where the boldest ideas and biggest projects can come to life.”

Analysts say that the availability of this second-generation digital infrastructure will act as a major catalyst for further accelerating the implementation of cloud technologies in the UAE. IDC in fact estimates that public cloud services adoption is accelerating at a CAGR of 28 per cent year on year between 2020 and 2025 in the UAE.

Dr. Mohamed Hamad Al Kuwaiti, head of Cybersecurity for the UAE Government, added that Oracle’s two cloud regions in the UAE are important investments towards providing cyber resilience and secure digital infrastructure for organisations to enjoy the full benefits of cloud computing.

“The UAE Government has rapidly transitioned from being a conventional set up to a smart government entity, and now with the increasing pace of digital transformation across the country’s public and private sector, we are progressing towards being an AI enabled government,” he said. “This progress is in line with the digital economy goals of our country, but we must also ensure that the cyber resilience of the UAE is maintained to mitigate cybercrime and increase international collaboration.”

As part of Oracle’s planned expansion of its cloud region footprint to support strong customer demand for Oracle Cloud services worldwide, over the next year, Oracle will open several additional cloud regions in Spain, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, France, and Saudi Arabia.

Oracle plans to have at least 44 cloud regions by the end of 2022, continuing one of the fastest expansions of any major cloud provider. These cloud regions are currently located in Japan, South Korea, India, Australia, Singapore, US, Canada, Brazil, Chile, Germany, UK, Switzerland, France, Sweden, Italy, the Netherlands, KSA, the UAE, and South Africa.

rohma@khaleejtimes.com