Google and El Salvador sign cloud agreement

Google Cloud and El Salvador signed a seven-year agreement under which the Silicon Valley giant will install its Distributed Cloud (GDC) and a cloud center of excellence in the country, according to a release. 

GDC involves hardware and software solutions that extend Google Cloud's infrastructure and services locally.

The agreement also supports El Salvador’s 2030 digital agenda and President Nayib Bukele's goal of transforming the country into a digital hub. The partnership must still be approved by the national assembly. 

The digital agenda’s axes are digital identity; innovation, education and competitiveness; modernization of the State; and digital governance.

The agenda includes solutions for personal data management, a unified digital identity and electronic signature services, technology education, infrastructure, security and open data.

GDC will provide the foundation for digitizing government processes and projects.

El Salvador is the first country in Latin America to completely adopt Google Cloud infrastructure and technology services, according to a video Bukele published on social media.

The agreement also covers the use of Google’s artificial intelligence technologies in healthcare and the implementation of a unified education data platform. 

El Salvador has been using Google Workspace as its main collaboration platform for 83 government agencies and 1.5mn students and teachers. 

According to the government, the agreement opens the door for the use of technology infrastructure in other areas, such as traffic management, security and public spaces.