Today, Microsoft Corp. presented a US$1.5 billion five-year investment plan in Italy, confirming its commitment to support innovation and growth in the country. Moreover, the company also announced plans to start the first Microsoft Regional Data Centre in Italy, in Milan. Capitalizing on and extending the “Ambizione Italia“ ecosystem project launched in 2018, the new investment plan - “Ambizione Italia #DigitalRestart” – will create new opportunities for people and organisations and drive economic development. Microsoft will allow companies to access local cloud services, also thanks to a renewed partnership with Poste Italiane, provide digital education training and smart working support, and help enterprises to start off again with access to their AI Hub Labs and ad hoc programmes for SMEs. Moreover, it will launch an Alliance for Sustainability to create an open innovation ecosystem on green issues.
Today’s announcement confirms the commitment of Microsoft to Italy, with over 35 years of operation in the country with a network of over 10,000 partners and 350,000 professionals. The plan marks an important step towards the global distribution of enterprise cloud services, for a total of 61 Regions, with Microsoft Azure available in over 140 countries.
Educational Programmes to Improve Work Opportunities
“Ambizione Italia #DigitalRestart” will focus on the education of ca. 1.5 million individuals, including students, professionals and unemployed over the course of three years. This plan builds on the commitment of Microsoft Italia during the course to train over half a million individuals on digital competences. The courses will be based on Microsoft Learn and the LinkedIn Platform to develop digital competences required by the labour market.
Moreover, Microsoft is committed to extending its educational activities on digital competences and artificial intelligence for schools in collaboration with the Fondazione Mondo Digitale. It will also continue to provide training and specific certification activities through the Partner Academy Program, thanks to the support of the Microsoft Partner ecosystem.
