Google plans to establish operations in El Salvador

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Aug 29, 2023, 09:00 ET

Thanks to multi-year partnership with the Government of El Salvador, Google Cloud plans to establish an office and deliver Google Distributed Cloud (GDC) services to help the country digitally transform, modernize government services, and improve healthcare and education

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Aug. 29, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Google Cloud and the government of El Salvador announced today a multi-year agreement to support the country in its journey to become a technological hub in Central America. Based on mutually agreed upon conditions, Google Cloud plans to establish a legal entity and a Google Cloud office in the Republic of El Salvador, initiate a Google Distributed Cloud (GDC) instance for the country, which will bring infrastructure closer to where El Salvador's data is generated, and set up a Cloud Center of Excellence to offer technical guidance to businesses and organizations on how to achieve the greatest benefits from cloud technology and innovations.

Throughout this 7-year strategic partnership, pending legislative approval, Google Cloud and the government of El Salvador will work together to put cloud technologies at the center of the country's modernization effort in three distinct areas:

Digital government: Google Cloud will be El Salvador's strategic innovation partner, helping to securely digitize government processes and projects, including electronic invoicing, permitting, and other initiatives. El Salvador will be using Google Distributed Cloud (GDC) as the foundation for this transformation. GDC is a portfolio of hardware and software solutions that extend Google Cloud's infrastructure and services anywhere – to a customer's own data center or locally at the edge - meeting El Salvador's regulatory and connectivity requirements while still allowing the government to take full advantage of all the benefits of cloud services. Google Cloud's delivery of GDC in El Salvador makes it the first Latin American government to benefit from this powerful cloud technology.
Healthcare: To support the country's efforts to deliver world-class healthcare to residents, El Salvador has chosen to incorporate Google Cloud's AI technologies to assist medical doctors with access to real-time information to improve the experience and health of people - including entire communities - across the country.
Education: A commitment to implement a unified Education Data Platform, providing administrators, educators, parents and public education leadership the capabilities to receive timely, efficient and consistent information. This announcement advances the country's modernization efforts that began in 2021, when El Salvador's Education Ministry and the country's Department of Innovation adopted Google Workspace as its main collaboration platform for 83 government agencies and more than 1.5 million students and teachers. As a result, Google for Education is now the primary learning platform for the entire national education system.

"El Salvador is moving forward. We believe technology and foreign investment are key for development. We are quickly becoming a hub for innovation. This groundbreaking alliance with Google Cloud opens unprecedented avenues for innovation, economic growth, and enhanced public services. Google's global expertise combined with El Salvador's audacity is set to redefine the technological landscape," said Nayib Bukele, President of the Republic of El Salvador.

"We look forward to working hand-in-hand with El Salvador to foster technological development in Central America," said Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian. "Access to cloud computing has dramatically expanded across industries and regions throughout the world, enabling both small companies and the public sector to utilize the very same applications and services as more mature markets. Cloud computing can truly transform Latin America, and we look forward to exploring the full potential of those possibilities in El Salvador, benefiting its citizens and boosting economic development."

These efforts are aligned with Google's commitment to collaborate in the creation of a solid digital future for Latin America. Last year, Google announced an investment of 1.2 billion USD in Latin America and the Caribbean over the next five years, including a Google.org grant to Pro Mujer to help Indigenous women-led businesses in Central America access microloans and digital skills training.

About Google Cloud
Google Cloud accelerates every organization's ability to digitally transform its business and industry. We deliver enterprise-grade solutions that leverage Google's cutting-edge technology, and tools that help developers build more sustainably. Customers in more than 200 countries and territories turn to Google Cloud as their trusted partner to enable growth and solve their most critical business problems.

SOURCE Google Cloud