Amazon unit boosts cloud network in Philippines

MANILA, Philippines — The Amazon Web Services Inc. (AWS) is expanding its cloud infrastructure in the Philippines through the launch of the new AWS Local Zone in Manila for seamless and better user experience

Conor McNamara, managing director for commercial at AWS in ASEAN, said that the new facility is a continuation of the company’s investments to support customers of all kinds and commitment to accelerate innovation by bringing cloud infrastructure to more locations in the Philippines.

“We know that delivering ultra-low latency applications for a seamless user experience matters for many businesses and industries, so we are excited to bring the edge of the cloud closer to more customers in the Philippines to help meet their requirements,” McNamara said.

McNamara said the AWS Local Zones would empower more public and private organizations, innovative startups, and AWS Partners to deliver a new generation of leading edge, low-latency applications to end users, taking advantage of the cost savings, scalability and high availability.

AWS Local Zone in Manila joins 16 existing zones across the US and an additional 31 zones planned to launch in 25 countries around the world — reaching hundreds of millions of end users.

This will complement AWS’s existing infrastructure in the Philippines, including Amazon CloudFront, a content delivery network service built for high performance, security, and developer convenience, and AWS Outposts, a fully managed service that extends AWS infrastructure, services, APIs, and tools to customer premises.

Information and Communications Technology Secretary Emmanuel Rey Caintic   said the DICT aims to utilize the benefits of cloud computing to make government services more responsive to the needs of the Filipino people.

“DICT commits to fully implementing the Philippine Cloud First Policy across all government agencies in the country, in-line with our efforts to maximize and harmonize the use of ICT in government. Cloud computing offers benefits such as access to global solutions and up-to-date cybersecurity. It also fosters innovation, scalability, security, and cost-efficiency among users. The Cloud First Policy aims to address the enduring issues of fragmentation among government agencies by establishing better collaboration and faster integration of public systems,” Caintic said.

With the deployment of an AWS Local Zone in the Philippines, Caintic said the government is optimistic about the future of the cloud services industry.

“We believe that this initiative will help promote cloud as the preferred ICT deployment technology for better governance and more efficient public service delivery,” Caintic said.