Google Cloud to support Kuwait’s digitisation drive

DUBAI (Reuters) – Google Cloud has formed a strategic alliance with the Kuwaiti government to support digitisation efforts across the country’s public sector, the company said on Friday.

Most Gulf states are investing significantly in digital technologies across the government sector to improve efficiency and make public services easier to access online, and as a way to diversify oil-dependent economies.

Google Cloud did not provide a value for the agreement with the Kuwaiti government, but said it would encompass digitising government services, migrating and storing national data securely on the cloud and setting up a national digital skills programme.

The company aims to invest in a cloud region in Kuwait, its third announced in the Middle East after Qatar and Saudi Arabia, and said it plans to open an office on the ground without specifying a timeframe.

There is increasing competition for developing cloud services in the region among international players, with Chinese firms such as Huawei also vying for lucrative government contracts as part of Gulf national economic transformation plans.

(Reporting by Rachna Uppal; Editing by Susan Fenton)