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The Office of the Government Chief Information Officer commenced operation of its new Data Centre Facilitation Unit today (July 25) to facilitate and promote the development of more high-tier data centres in Hong Kong. The Data Centre Portal (www.datacentre.gov.hk) was also launched to provide useful information on setting up data centres in the territory.
Officiating at the opening ceremony of the Unit, the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Gregory So, said, "Data centres constitute an essential part of the infrastructure in our knowledge-based economy. They support the sustainable growth of our traditional pillar industries such as financial services, trading and logistics. They are also fundamental to the development of the information and communications technology sector, including cloud computing services.
"The Government attaches great importance to facilitating data centre development, and has been actively promoting Hong Kong as a prime location for data centres in the Asia-Pacific region," he said.
The Data Centre Facilitation Unit provides a one-stop enquiry and helpdesk service for local and overseas parties who are interested in setting up data centres in Hong Kong. It will co-ordinate efforts of different government departments to offer assistance on relevant issues. It also updates useful thematic information on the Data Centre Portal, including Hong Kong's institutional and geographical advantages, sources of land and premises, statutory requirements on land use, and supporting facilities such as power supply and telecommunications coverage.
"We aim to give prospective data centre developers and operators a holistic picture of our competitive edge, thereby facilitating their selection of Hong Kong as the first-choice location for their strategic data centres," Mr So said.
Interested parties can call the helpdesk hotline on 2582 4574 or email to datacentre@ogcio.gov.hk for information and services related to data centre development.
Ends/Monday, July 25, 2011
Issued at HKT 17:37
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