Oracle signed on as first tenant of hyperscale data centre in Saudi Arabia’s NEOM

NEOM Tech & Digital Holding Company – the first holding company to be established as a subsidiary of NEOM – has announced Oracle as the first tenant of its hyperscale data centre.

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) will be hosted at the data centre, providing a high-performing, resilient foundation for cloud services.

The agreement follows the launch of the Oracle Cloud Saudi Arabia West Region in Jeddah in February 2020 and supports Oracle’s commitment to open two dedicated cloud regions in the kingdom.

Speaking at the kingdom’s Future Investment Initiative event, Abdullah Alswaha, Minister for Communications and Information Technology and chairman of the NEOM Tech and Digital Holding board of directors, said: “The data centre will not only attract global businesses by creating a powerful platform for knowledge exchange, but it will also empower innovators to pilot their ideas at scale inside the kingdom. Today’s announcement means the realisation of technology that will serve the ambitions of the public and private sector across the region and far beyond, positioning Saudi Arabia at the forefront of the industry.”

Richard Smith, executive vice president – technology, EMEA, Oracle, added: “Conceived and architected on security-first principles, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure is the preferred cloud in Saudi Arabia. With this collaboration with NEOM, we are now expanding our footprint in the kingdom to continue supporting the digital transformation initiatives of the country’s public and private sector organisations.”

Meanwhile Fabio Fontana, executive director of NEOM Tech & Digital Holding Co. Cloud Park, noted: “The data centre is the first step in our overall Cognitive Connectivity Hub strategy and combines levels of compute and connectivity that will be unrivalled in the region. NEOM Tech & Digital Holding Co. Cloud Park will create an end-to-end gateway to the kingdom and GCC markets for global content giants and providers of cloud, networking and internet services. NEOM is the perfect location for providers seeking to co-locate their infrastructure – it will be cost-effective, drawing on high-speed connectivity and an abundance of skilled talent.”

NEOM Tech & Digital Holding Co. (via its affiliates, NEOM Company) also announced a $500m joint venture with EzdiTek (via its affiliate, FAS Energy Trading Co, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s Fawaz Alhokair Group) to power the creation and operation of the data centre. EzdiTek will partner with global engineering and architectural firms RED and Gensler.

The data centre, 51 per cent owned by NEOM Tech and Digital Hold Co. and 49 per cent by EzdiTek, will be designed to meet the highest security standards in the industry and serve MENA, parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, and eventually Europe. The data centre, strategically located at the nexus of terrestrial and sub-sea cable cables, enables it to provide customers with fast and reliable connectivity.