Akbou Inaugurates Nation’s First 100% Sovereign Data Center

Algeria has officially inaugurated the I-Cloud solution, its first 100% sovereign Data Center, located in the industrial zone of Akbou. The Minister of Knowledge Economy, Noureddine Ouadah, presided over the inauguration, which represents a pivotal advancement in the nation's digital independence. The I-Cloud facility, developed entirely by national expertise and hosted within Algeria, is part of a broader strategy to establish two crucial infrastructures for a national cloud, designed to secure and modernize both public and economic services.

This cutting-edge data storage and computing infrastructure is specifically engineered to bolster digital sovereignty and ensure the confidentiality of data. By offering a credible local alternative to international platforms, I-Cloud aims to remove technical barriers for startups and developers, enabling a swift transition from concept to product. For businesses in Akbou, which previously relied on servers hosted abroad, the new Data Center is expected to reduce connectivity costs and accelerate their adoption of Industry 4.0 and open innovation principles.

The inauguration event also saw the signing of several partnership agreements between the I-Cloud development group, Akbou industrialists, and support structures such as Algeria Venture. These collaborations are designed to facilitate access for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and micro-enterprises to the sovereign cloud, certified training, solution hosting, and financial support. With the establishment of this fully Algerian sovereign infrastructure, the wilaya of Béjaïa is positioning itself to become both an industrial capital and a regional technological hub, combining productive capacity with Algerian innovation.