Mexico the latest country to get its own Microsoft Cloud datacenter

Microsoft announced today that Mexico will get its first cloud datacenter region as part of the company’s ambitious “Innovate for Mexico” plan. Over the next five years, the software giant plans to invest $1.1 billion in the country, with an education and skilling program to complement the new cloud infrastructure.

“Microsoft’s new cloud datacenter region in Mexico will provide highly available, scalable and secure cloud services across Mexico with the option of data residency in country,” the company explained today. “This local datacenter infrastructure benefits small, medium and large business and the startups ecosystem and stimulates economic development for both customers and partners alike, enabling companies, governments, and regulated industries to realize the benefits of the cloud for innovation and new projects, as well as bolstering the technology ecosystem that supports these projects.”

In addition to this new local datacenter, which will bring Microsoft’s global cloud infrastructure to 57 cloud regions in 22 countries, Microsoft also plans to support AI projects that can benefit the Mexican population. The company highlighted today the project “Artificial Intelligence to Monitor Pelagic Sharks in the Mexican Pacific Ocean” that aims to protect Mako shark species. Lastly, the company will also ask CEOs of local innovative companies to join a new Advisory Board that will focus on new opportunities for digital transformation in the country.

“Few places in the world today are as dynamic and diverse as Mexico. In this landscape, we see enormous opportunity for the cloud to accelerate innovation, support people across the country working to transform their businesses, explore new entrepreneurship opportunities and help solve some of the country’s most difficult challenges,” Microsoft said today.