The digital technology and intelligence arm of Alibaba Group, Alibaba Cloud has announced Project AsiaForward with an initial $1 billion funding and resources. The company aims to foster a million-strong digital talent pool, empower 100,000 developers and the growth of 100,000 technology startups in Asia Pacific (APAC) over the next three years.
According to the cloud provider, launched during the Alibaba Cloud Summit 2021, the project forms part of its strategy to invest in infrastructure, technological innovation and talent development to contribute to local economic growth through digital transformation as the trusted cloud leader in APAC.
Selina Yuan, General Manager of International Business Unit, Alibaba Cloud Intelligence, said, “Our strategic roadmap for APAC includes targeted investments to facilitate the digital transformation of local businesses. We see these investments as all the more timely given the impact of the pandemic and the sharp rise in demand for digital business tools. Equally important is our focus on talent development and nurturing a digitally-competent workforce, which we see as a key challenge for many businesses to overcome going forward.
In the Philippines, the company is to launch its first data centre by the end of this year, signaling its continued support for the digitalisation of local businesses through a variety of products and services including Elastic Compute Service (ECS), database, global network solution, Content Delivery Network (CDN) and storage services. This investment is the latest in Alibaba Cloud’s growing commitment in the country, focusing on the banking, FinTech, retail, logistics and education sectors, among others.
In Malaysia, Alibaba Cloud is to build its first international innovation centre. In collaboration with local partner Handsprofit, the company is offering a one-stop innovation enablement platform for Malaysian small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), startups and developers looking to push the technological frontier. Various cloud technology and business leadership trainings will be offered through the platform, as well as the nurturing of an ecosystem for venture capital networking.
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In Indonesia, Alibaba Cloud has officially launched the third data centre, starting to serve customers with offerings across database, security, network, machine learning and data analytics services. The additional centre allows Alibaba Cloud to better support local businesses interested in adopting cloud technology and advance Indonesia’s push for a digital society. Alibaba Cloud currently operates 75 availability zones in 24 regions around the world.
Alibaba Cloud’s talent development ambitions are embedded in Project AsiaForward’s three core programs – DigiTalents Forward, focused on digital upskilling, AI Forward, targeting developers and DigiEntrepreneurs Forward, aimed at connecting promising business ideas with venture capital and real-life opportunities.
During the summit, Alibaba Cloud also unveiled a range of products and solutions such as new live streaming solutions, IT infrastructure products and cloud native data management services.
