The Chinese central government won’t have access to the data stored in the data centre being developed by the Alibaba Group, the group assured Business Daily.
“The data stored in the centre will be owned by the Macau government and be under local legislation. Alibaba Cloud is responsible for the technical construction of the smart technology platform, but we do not have access to the data or individual Macau resident information,” a spokesperson from the Chinese technology group told Business Daily.
According to the representative, the group will build the “module and the algorithm for the data analysis” but it won’t have access to the information stored and “therefore neither will the Chinese government”.
On August 4, the Alibaba Group signed an agreement with local authorities to develop the MSAR into a ‘Smart City’ in two phases by 2021, through the use of cloud data collection technology.
After the announcement, representatives from the New Macau Association (ANM) expressed concern that the data stored in the proposed centre would be available at request of the Chinese government, while questioning the lack of a public tender for the plan.
Pointing out trends
The government stated it would allocate MOP200 million annually for the next two years for the project, with the first phase set for completion in June of 2019, and the second phase by June of 2021.
The first phase will focus on using cloud computing and data analysis to develop Macau’s cloud computing, smart transportation, smart tourism, smart healthcare and smart city governance, as well as human resources talent.
When questioned on how the project would develop the local financial sector, the Alibaba Group told Business Daily that the data centre would provide “Big Data analysis for economic trends prediction” and that its positive impact on a variety of different sectors would “surely boost the overall economy of Macau”.
The project is being developed by the group’s subsidiary, Alibaba Cloud, with a team having been created especially for the project, based in Hong Kong but travelling frequently to Macau.
Finding the right place
The data centre construction is said to be in the “very early stages”, with the company still looking for a suitable location for the data centre.
Locations being considered for the centre would not “exclusively be MSAR Government properties,” the company representative stated.
The group didn’t provide any information on the possible size of the centre or the number of people employed, saying it was company policy to not disclose this kind of information about its data centres.
The group also told Business Daily that currently the project is only being developed in partnership with the MSAR Government, but that due to the dimension of the plan, the group “will look for partnerships with retail, transport, tourism to get the project up and running” in future stages.
Workshops and seminars in computing are also currently being provided by the group to government employees and the public.
“One part of the project involves better interconnectivity between local government departments to increase efficiency of governance, so we’re also providing training to government employees,” the Alibaba Group spokesperson told Business Daily.
When questioned if the Alibaba Group was negotiating for a similar project with the Hong Kong government, the group’s representative stated the company hopes to bring its “expertise and experience in smart city development, talent development, and in promoting technology innovations and entrepreneurship to Hong Kong” in order to “benefit more local entrepreneurs as well as to improve Hong Kong’s city governance and industry upgrading”.
