Greece and Google – a match made in the cloud

A core aspect of Greece’s economic transformation and revitalisation in recent years has been our embrace of technology and the digital revolution, and I am pleased to say this has been a two-way embrace. Attracted by our digitally literate and outward-looking workforce, our overall investment climate and our role as a key regional hub for the Eastern Mediterranean, global technology firms have made sizeable investments in Greece, complementing our own thriving domestic start-up scene. 

Greece aspires to become a global hub for cloud computing and today has seen a significant step forward towards realising that ambition with the news that Google will invest in developing a cloud region (a cluster of data centres) in Greece.

Speaking at the launch event today, Google Cloud International President Adaire Fox-Martin explained that the cloud region will provide storage and cloud services for Google customers and enable organisations to better use their data, help improve low latency and ensure users’ security in the face of cybersecurity threats.

Also appearing at the event, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said he expects the deal to create around 20,000 new jobs and contribute some €2.2bn to Greece’s economic output by 2030.

Google’s investment follows similar announcements by Microsoft and Amazon in data centres and cloud computing technology. This means that when the project will be completed, Greece will be one of the few countries in the world outside of North America home to all three largest cloud service multinationals. This in turn will help to create new opportunities for businesses based in Greece as well as to diversify and future-proof the wider economy. 

The announcement is the latest is a string of positive economic stories for Greece and is all the more notable given the challenging global environment. In recent months Greece has successfully exited the EU’s enhanced surveillance mechanism – a legacy of the financial crisis years – and recorded record tourist numbers.

This has not gone unnoticed by the Financial Times which included Greece in its ‘Seven economic wonders of a worried world’ feature, noting that “Now growing at more than 4 per cent, with inflation coming down fast, Greece is enjoying one of the region’s healthiest recoveries.”

Greece is a country on the up. And the sky is the limit for cloud computing in Greece.