By Robert Andre Emmanuel
The establishment of a Tier 4 data centre remains on track for the end of the 2025 fiscal year, according to Minister of Information and Communications Technologies, Melford Nicholas.
Speaking on the heels of the presentation and press conference showcasing the new Arrive Antigua digital platform, Nicholas provided an update on the facility, which will replace the centre currently housed at the Parliament building.
“We are going through the financial approvals because, as you know, any major infrastructure investment like the one that we are planning is going to be in the millions of dollars, and we have to satisfy and to work with the Ministry of Finance.
“So, we have already submitted our requests for the tendering process within the procurement system, and I’ll wait until the outcome from that to move on to the next level, but we are pressing hard to ensure that we can come complete this before the end of this financial year,” he stated.
The new facility will reportedly meet EN 50600 standards – one of the most thorough standards available for data centres in the world, covering multiple aspects of design, construction, and operation across four areas: general concepts, infrastructure design, management processes, and performance metrics.
Amidst the growing use of Artificial Intelligence and the need to adequately support the ever-expanding government services, including at Customs, Immigration, Treasury, and Inland Revenue, the new data centre’s approved location was noted to be confidential.
