The collaborating companies that make up Microsoft’s ecosystem of technology partners, together with the customers that use its cloud services, will contribute an additional 5.3 billion euros to the Community of Madrid’s GDP between 2022 and 2025, according to preliminary data from a report published by consultancy firm IDC. During this period, it will in addition help to create more than 13,200 direct and indirect jobs in the region.

The report relates to the launch of the Microsoft regional cloud in Madrid within the next few months, which was announced in 2020. The development will integrate the American company’s data centres in the north and east of this autonomous region. In the future, there will be a further three data centres that will be built in Algete, Meco and San Sebastián de los Reyes, according to the announcement last May.

New cloud region
The commissioning of this new cloud region is part of the 12 billion dollar investment that Microsoft has committed to making over the next two years, and the region will provide cloud services to the multinational’s customers in Spain. The company will collaborate with the Community of Madrid on this project through the Office for the Promotion of Data Processing Centres (OICPD), created in January this year to encourage organisations to set up facilities in the region.

As it committed to doing in the first announcement made in 2020, the towns where the data centres are based will also benefit from digital literacy activities and circular economy projects. This is in addition to other ongoing investments, such as the Microsoft Azure training programme for the unemployed in the north of the region.

Employability
According to data published by the company, 66% of people who obtain cloud computing certification, which is awarded at the end of the training, find a job within three months. The recruitment for this type of digital profile is carried out with the involvement of over 2,400 partners in the Community of Madrid. These collaborating technology companies are responsible for finding solutions and designing services associated with Microsoft technologies.

Among the investments, the technology includes environmental sustainability projects like the one implemented by the Repsol Foundation for the reforestation of Torremocha de Jarama in the north of the region. This initiative involves planting a new forest covering over 18 hectares with 11,340 trees. There are also plans to undertake a reforestation project alongside one of the future data centres, in San Sebastian de los Reyes.

^{Photo: Microsoft}