The UAE’s Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA) announced that it has become the first government entity to provide sovereign cloud services in the region. Sovereign Clouds are designed and built to deliver security and data access that meets the strict requirements of data protection law as well as those of the regulatory sectors regarding data privacy, access and control.
This accreditation is the result of a journey of hard work during which TDRA was able to meet a number of standards set by VMware, such as data integration, security, independence, analytics and innovation. It also fits in line with TDRA’s tireless efforts in the field of digital transformation and government enablement of a highly efficient government cloud environment.
TDRA’s efforts in this context come within its mission as a facilitator of digital transformation in addition to its role as a regulator of the telecommunications sector in the UAE. TDRA provides a strong digital network, known as the Federal Digital Network (FedNet), as well as a range of cloud services, including a virtual services marketplace that supports government entities in developing their digital solutions.
Commenting on this achievement, H.E. Eng. Majed Al Mesmar, TDRA Director General said, “Data has become the oil of the era and a priceless wealth. From this perspective, TDRA has been keen to develop and localize cloud services according to the best international standards. Through this step, we seek to preserve the data of our government entities and achieve the security and independence of data, its transfer, analytics and innovation so that this data remains safe, secure and protected.”
H.E. Al Mesmar added, “Through the accreditation of FedNet as a sovereign cloud, TDRA provides a wide range of services in order to enhance digital transformation in government and private entities of different sizes and sectors in which they operate. Moreover, sovereign clouds will give government entities greater ability to control and preserve their data and the data of their customers, and they will be able to meet the highest standards of information security.”
Moreover, H.E. Eng. Mohammad Al Zarooni, TDRA Deputy Director General for Information and Digital Government Sector said, “The accreditation of TDRA as a sovereign cloud service provider in the UAE will have a major role in supporting the digital transformation efforts in the country and will drive the adoption of cloud computing by government entities. TDRA manages cloud infrastructure services, application hosting and technical support provision to federal entities within the country, and ensures its protection and security.”
H.E. Al Zarooni continued, “This would support TDRA’s efforts in enhancing the capabilities of digital enablers, which is a package of tools available to federal government entities to support their digital transformation efforts.”
TDRA indicated that the adoption of the sovereign cloud will contribute to the development of cloud services at the government level, which will improve the quality of access to government services around the clock through an agile hosting environment with increased operational efficiency and financial savings through cost reduction. This step will enhance the use of digital services connected to FedNet, which reaches more than 250 digital services.
The Cloud Services Section in TDRA is responsible for managing the cloud infrastructure as a service provided within the framework of FedNet, an agile cloud infrastructure capable of meeting the increasing demand for computing and storage resources and providing such to more than 35 federal entities. This service is monitored by the Cloud Computing Operations Center 24 hours a day. The Cloud Services Section provides a range of services, including infrastructure, disaster recovery environment, artificial intelligence environment and machine learning applications, to name a few.