Ceremony marking the beginning of construction work on the State Data Centre in Kragujevac

The State Data Centre in Kragujevac will be in the top 10 most efficient data centres in the world and will be fully owned by the Republic of Serbia, with a maximum capacity of 1180 Rack Cabinets, which is more than 5 times the capacity of the existing Data Centre in Belgrade. Data Centre in Kragujevac will be ready to meet the highest technical standard of reliability, Tier 4. The value of the investment in the first phase is 30 million EUR, and construction will last for one year.

 “For the first time, state administration and local self-governments will have their own data centre to house equipment and data according to the highest global technical and safety standards. This infrastructure project of national importance will ensure systematic and faster establishment of eGovernment information systems, more efficient linking of various databases and the development of different eGovernment services for citizens, businesses and the state. The goal is for citizens to have full communication, via Internet or mobile phones, with the state or local self-government within the three-year period. This will accelerate the transformation of public administration into a citizen service”, said Mihailo Jovanović (Associate Professor, PhD), Director of the Office for Information Technologies and eGovernment of the Government of the Republic of Serbia.

In addition to the benefits for the citizens of Serbia, whose data will be stored in accordance with the highest global standards, the opportunity will be created for the arrival of the largest international IT companies and the engagement of hundreds of domestic IT personnel.

The State Data Centre in Kragujevac will enable the storage of data of large commercial users as well. Today, the Office for IT and eGovernment has signed three memoranda of understanding with Microsoft, Oracle and Postal Savings Bank, which have shown interest in opening Microsoft and Oracle worldwide data centres and storing data of the largest state-owned bank respectively.

The Mayor of Kragujevac, Radomir Nikolić, expressed his satisfaction that Kragujevac was selected as the home to one of the most important national infrastructure projects, thanks to which its citizens will have additional benefits.

 “In addition to the ability to use the data centre’s facilities to accommodate the equipment necessary for the City Administration’s smooth operations, Kragujevac will directly benefit from the potential arrival of major global IT vendors like Microsoft and Oracle, gaining the opportunity to become one of the most important IT centres in Serbia but also the region. The city of Kragujevac was not accidentally selected as the location for the construction of the State Data Centre. It was necessary to meet high criteria such as the existence of the University and the highway, as well as telecommunications, energy and other infrastructure”, the Mayor pointed out.