By Francesca Landini and Elvira Pollina
CERNOBBIO, Italy (Reuters) – Telecom Italia will submit an expression of interest to create a national cloud hub in Italy with three partners, including defence group Leonardo and state lender CDP, Chief Executive Luigi Gubitosi said on Saturday.
The head of Italy’s biggest phone group spoke after Innovation Minister Vittorio Colao earlier said Italy expects to receive bids by the end of September from companies interested in building the cloud hub, a 900-million-euro ($1.07 billion) project to upgrade the country’s data storage facilities.
“The minister will not be disappointed… we will present an offer and I believe it will meet the requirements,” Gubitosi told reporters during an annual business conference in Cernobbio on Lake Como.
The cloud hub, one of the projects funded by the European Union to help Italy’s economy recover from the pandemic, reflects European efforts to make the 27-member bloc less dependent on large overseas tech companies for cloud services.
“The promoter of the initiative is CDP and we are also working with Leonardo and (state-owned IT firm) Sogei. We are a qualified group of Italian companies that will try to give an answer to the needs of the country,” Gubitosi said.
The joint proposal will be ready by the end of this month and the four partners will likely create a new company to work on the project, he added.
Italy’s innovation minister is due to present the government’s strategy and detailed requirements for the national cloud project on Tuesday.
($1 = 0.8416 euros)
(Reporting by Francesca Landini and Elvira Pollina; Editing by Mark Potter and Mike Harrison)
