Impulsa Galicia meets with the ICT sector to present them the data centre that will contribute to the digitalization of Galicia
The entities congratulated the launch of this new infrastructure that is open to the entire Galician economic fabric.
The public-private partnership Impulsa Galicia, whose main objective is to streamline strategic projects that contribute to the transformation of the Galician economy through a green and digital model, met with the main entities of the ICT sector operating in the community. The purpose of the meeting was to present them in detail the construction project of a large data centre and to familiarize them with the operation of the partnership. Miguel Corgos, Regional Minister of Finance and Public Administration and board member of Impulsa Galicia; Enyd López, General Director of the partnership; Juan Luis Vargas-Zúñiga, General Director of Capital Markets, Management and Institutional Distribution at Abanca and member of the technical committee of Impulsa Galicia; and David Gómez, General Director of the Data Centre division at Ingenostrum, the company promoting the data centre, participated in the meeting. This meeting is part of a series of sectoral meetings of Impulsa Galicia with the Galician business fabric.
In the meeting held in A Coruña, Miguel Corgos recalled that Impulsa Galicia is a tool created at the request of the Xunta to develop projects framed within the Galicia Transformation Hub, which are characterized by meeting two basic requirements: "contributing to the energy transition and the digitalization of Galicia." In this context, the need arose for the construction of a large data centre with a differential offer compared to what currently exists in Galicia: "the data storage capacity, which is why it is designed to accommodate 15 MW IT, and sustainability, which is why we demand that it be carbon-positive, meaning that it not only be environmentally neutral, but also that the heat generated by its activity can be utilized by another industry," stated the Regional Minister.
On her part, the General Director of the partnership, Enyd López, explained that "in every Impulsa Galicia project, we seek to create synergies with the local business fabric" and emphasized that the data centre is a project open to "all companies, entities, and administrations based in Galicia, regardless of their size. We work to enhance the competitiveness of all of them."
Juan Luis Vargas-Zúñiga, a member of the technical committee of the partnership, stated that Impulsa Galicia has taken the first step with the launch of the project, and now "we must, together, be able to consolidate it." He challenged those present to express what they seek in an unparalleled infrastructure in the Galician market, which will enable them to stop outsourcing data storage services.
In this way, one by one, the attending ICT entities took the floor. They all expressed their gratitude for the invitation and open dialogue and congratulated the initiative of having a data centre that serves the entire Galician business fabric and aligns with the increasing market demand for sustainability.
On his part, David Gómez from Ingenostrum clarified that the project is in an early stage. "Currently, we are looking for a location and considering agreements with various types of partners, including end customers and cloud service providers," he stated.
Representatives from the ICT Cluster, Altia, R, Plexus, Dinahosting, ITG, NTTDATA Spain, Gradiant, Feuga, Cidade das TIC, CiQUS, CITIC, CETIM, Galvintec, and ITG attended the meeting.
ABOUT THE DATA CENTRE PROJECT
The objective of the construction and implementation project of a large data centre, in line with the National Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan, is the modernization and digitalization of the Galician business fabric. This project aims to provide the Galician SMEs, large companies, and public institutions with the necessary data storage capacity, high-speed connectivity, sufficient bandwidth, and low latency (temporal delays within a network) to facilitate the digitalization of SMEs by offering services that they cannot currently obtain in the market, ensuring economies of scale and cost efficiencies.
The projected 15MW IT capacity would allow hosting the data of Galician companies, thereby providing Galicia with sovereignty over the control of community data.
Over the past year, Impulsa Galicia has carried out the conceptualization, project design, and search for an investment and development partner. The Spanish company Ingenostrum has been chosen to lead the project, partnering with the engineering firm Nexitic, specialized in the design of such infrastructures.
The total investment is estimated at 400 million euros, with 130 million allocated to the construction itself and the remaining 270 million to be invested in IT servers and technology.
The construction phase of the data centre is expected to generate approximately 200 jobs, which typically last for about a year in this type of infrastructure project. Following that, around 100 high-skilled positions would be created for its maintenance, including both direct and indirect employment opportunities.
