02 July 2024
Gulf Edge Company Limited and Google Cloud have announced a multi-year agreement to deliver next-generation sovereign cloud services in Thailand that meet the country’s most stringent data residency, security, and privacy requirements.
This strategic partnership aims to empower organisations in Thailand’s critical industries, particularly those involving sensitive data, such as healthcare, public safety, energy, and utilities, to accelerate their digital transformations with best-in-class AI and analytics capabilities, while offering data, operational, and software sovereignty.
Gulf Edge will be authorised by Google Cloud to operate Google Distributed Cloud (GDC) as a Managed GDC Provider (MGP), with a focus on air-gapped configurations for organisations in Thailand. GDC is a Google Sovereign Cloud solution that operates entirely within a customer’s chosen environment, requiring no connectivity to a Google Cloud region or the public internet. MGPs are strategic partners that collaborate with Google Cloud to drive the adoption of GDC air-gapped, by providing expert deployment, operational, and managed services to end customers.
Gulf Edge will offer deployment options for GDC air-gapped on-premises or within a Gulf group data center, with flexible hardware options — including general-purpose central processing units (CPUs) and graphics processing units (GPUs) — to address organisations’ specific workload requirements. This ensures that data, operations, and software remain entirely under the customer’s control and within Thailand’s borders, adhering to all legal and sovereignty frameworks, including the Personal Data Protection Act.
“Our partnership with Google Cloud on Thailand’s first sovereign cloud solution with built-in AI and analytics reinforces Gulf’s commitment to technological leadership and sustainable development. We chose GDC based on its unique ability to isolate operations from the public internet while providing powerful AI capabilities,” said Sarath Ratanavadi, CEO, Gulf Energy Development Public Company Limited. “This will allow our mission-critical energy and utility systems to handle data-intensive tasks with enhanced security and resilience. The successful delivery of GDC in Thailand is a strategic imperative, as its adoption across regulated industries will not only boost our country’s digital competitiveness but also create new revenue opportunities for our company. Looking ahead, we’re eager to expand our partnership with Google Cloud, especially in areas where there are synergies between their technologies and our core competencies, to advance the growth of our business in Thailand and abroad.”
“As part of our commitment to the Royal Thai Government to provide resilient and innovation-driven digital infrastructure for the country, we’re very pleased to bring on board Gulf Edge as our first MGP in Thailand to deliver GDC air-gapped for local organisations. This next-generation, AI-enabled sovereign cloud solution will enable the public sector and other regulated industries to accelerate digital transformation on their own terms, even when faced with stringent digital sovereignty requirements. GDC empowers organisations to unlock new ways to analyse data, uncover insights, boost productivity, and build modern applications while ensuring they have complete control and protection of their sensitive data,” said Karan Bajwa, vice president, Asia Pacific, Google Cloud.
