In 2026, AWS plans to open a new cloud infrastructure region in Saudi Arabia, investing over $5.3 billion. This expansion would support a broad range of sectors by providing local data centers, ensuring in-country content storage for customers. At debut, the new AWS Region will include three Availability Zones, bringing the total number of AWS Availability Zones across 33 worldwide geographic areas to 105.
In addition to investing in upskilling students, local developers, and the next generation of local talent at any point of their careers with access to cloud computing capabilities, AWS plans to open two new innovation centers in Saudi Arabia.
Analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), computation, databases, Internet of Things (IoT), machine learning (ML), mobile services, storage, and other cloud technologies are just a few of the many services that AWS will provide in Saudi Arabia. Customers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and throughout the Middle East would be able to meet data residency preferences, drive innovation, achieve lower latency, and meet demand for cloud services by utilizing AWS’s cutting edge technologies.
“Today’s announcement supports the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s digital transformation with the highest levels of security and resilience available on AWS cloud infrastructure, helping serve fast-growing demand for cloud services across the Middle East,” said Prasad Kalyanaraman, Vice President of Infrastructure Services at AWS. “The new AWS Region will enable organizations to unlock the full potential of the cloud and build with AWS technologies like compute, storage, databases, analytics, and artificial intelligence, transforming the way businesses and institutions serve their customers. We look forward to helping Saudi Arabian institutions, startups, and enterprises deliver cloud-powered applications to accelerate growth, productivity, and innovation and spur job creation, skills training, and educational opportunities.”
AWS plans to create 18 new Availability Zones and six more AWS Regions in Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Thailand, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the AWS European Sovereign Cloud.
Connected by redundant, ultra-low-latency networks, each AWS Availability Zone has its own power, cooling, and physical security. In order to attain even higher fault tolerance, AWS customers who prioritize high availability can build their applications to operate across multiple Availability Zones.
“The partnership with AWS and their announcement of an AWS Region, backed by a $5.3 billion investment, ignites a new era of technological excellence and innovation for the Kingdom,” said His Excellency Engineer Abdullah Alswaha, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Minister of Communications and Information Technology. “This cloud Region demonstrates a firm commitment to research, innovation, and empowering entrepreneurs to achieve prosperity for our region and the world.”
Amazon’s Commitment to Developing Digital Skills
To facilitate the expansion of cloud adoption across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, AWS plans to expand its training programs and expedite the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 objective of enhancing women’s involvement in the workforce. To further this objective, AWS and Skillsoft Global Knowledge are collaborating to introduce the ‘AWS Saudi Arabia Women’s Skills Initiative,’ a new upskilling initiative. Through classroom instruction led by AWS-certified experts, AWS will provide free training on AWS Cloud Practitioner Essentials to up to 4,000 women. This program aims to assist women in launching a career in cloud computing.
AWS will also keep funding upskilling initiatives for students, local technical experts and developers, nontechnical professionals, and the next generation of IT leaders in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia via programs including AWS Academy, AWS Educate, AWS re/Start, and AWS Skill Builder. These programs aid in preparing students from diverse backgrounds and experiences for employment in cloud computing. AWS Training and Certification offers training in a variety of formats to suit individual learning preferences, ranging from interactive, game-based learning materials to full-time workforce development programs and higher education courses.
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In addition to opening two new innovation centers, AWS will educate and coach tech-savvy companies in the Middle East and North Africa on AWS technologies like AI and ML. Additionally, AWS will provide free AWS Skill Builder memberships to up to 4,000 people employed by small and medium-sized businesses registered in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in addition to funding for graduate student research.
AWS Skill Builder is a digital learning platform that offers over 600 free courses covering over 30 AWS services at varying degrees of difficulty, in up to 14 languages. The number of diverse applicants entering the talent pipeline would increase as a result of AWS increasing its commitment to providing free digital training. Enhancing this pledge, AWS will moreover persist in expanding its training initiatives and expediting the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 objective of enabling women to augment their involvement in the labor field.
Higher education establishments will get access to ready-to-teach cloud computing curricula from AWS Academy, which will equip students to seek industry-recognized certifications and in-demand cloud careers. AWS Academy courses have been added to the curricula of eleven Saudi Arabian higher education institutions, including King Khalid University, Majmaah University, Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University, College of Telecom and Electronics, Communications and Information College in Riyadh, and the Digital Technical College for Girls in Riyadh. AWS is dedicated to breaking down barriers to cloud skills education, and by 2025, it will have invested hundreds of millions of dollars to provide 29 million individuals worldwide free access to cloud computing skills training.
Amazon Academy
In an ongoing effort to support the advancement of digital skills, AWS and Amazon have established Amazon Academy, which offers instruction and certifications in cloud computing, logistics, and retail to Saudi Arabian citizens. The project, which seeks to teach over 30,000 Saudi residents and give 35,000 certification vouchers along with 100 internship opportunities, is a supplement to the Human Capability Development Program of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030.
To improve in-demand capabilities and prepare Saudi people for occupations of the future, Amazon Academy will provide participants free of charge training and certifications. Through the curriculum, the next generation of Saudi youth, professionals at any level in their careers, and entrepreneurs are aimed to be equipped with the skills necessary to succeed in a variety of in-demand fields, including leadership, cloud computing, and logistics.
To encourage Saudi talent to enroll in the skills development academy, which is run by Saudi Digital Academy (SDA) and TUWAIQ Academy, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) will work with Amazon through MCIT’s Future Skills initiative. Cutting-edge skills training is provided by Amazon Academy, which blends the company’s awareness of the Saudi talent environment with its worldwide technology and operational capabilities.
To move people and businesses towards a digital future, the cloud computing route will provide certifications ranging from basic to specialist in areas such as cloud architecting, AI, ML, data analytics, and other industry-ready technologies.
Additionally, as part of its ongoing efforts to support women’s upskilling, Amazon initiated a recruiting program specifically for female delivery associates. This initiative aims to facilitate upskilling opportunities and provide women in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with the means to pursue prosperous careers in e-commerce logistics.
