- Microsoft has invested billions across Europe in a bid to increase EU data center capacity by 40%
- The company is also helping to boost resilience in the region amid ongoing geopolitical upheaval
- Microsoft declares that it wants to earn the trust of Europeans through hard work
Amid ongoing allegations of anti-competitive behavior and antitrust investigations being revealed across at least six markets, Microsoft has given us an update on its European sovereignty work and the five core principles it set out last year.
By 2025, the company declared it would build a stronger artificial intelligence and cloud ecosystem in Europe, ensure digital resilience amid risky geopolitics, protect European privacy, strengthen regional cyber security and boost economic competitiveness – but how has it fared so far?
According to its own assessments, Microsoft appears to be making significant progress on its continental push as it strives to increase its European data center capacity by 40%.
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Microsoft says things are looking good for it in Europe
In the past year alone, Microsoft has invested billions in new investments across Portugal (+$10 billion), Norway (+$6.2 billion) and the UK (+$30 billion), as well as expected existing data center footprints in Denmark, Germany, France, Italy, Sweden, Spain, Poland and Switzerland.
Microsoft also noted that sovereignty means far more than data residency, acknowledging ongoing geopolitics and Europe’s desire to remain connected even amid ongoing and rising tensions.
This is why its Digital Resilience Commitment in government contracts has become legally binding, and why it has launched a partnership with Germany’s Delos Cloud “to ensure business continuity in Europe in times of crisis.”
In addition to its data protection and cybersecurity efforts, Microsoft also claims to have contributed somewhat less directly to European economic competitiveness by supporting local GitHub creators and launching a project to “collect high-quality speech and text datasets for Europe’s underrepresented languages.”
“Trust cannot be claimed,” concluded EMEA President Samer Abu-Ltaif and EMEA VP & Deputy General Counsel for Corporate External & Legal Affairs Jeff Bullwinkel. “It must be earned through our actions, day by day.”
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