Microsoft plans to invest $1bn in cloud computing in Poland.

The company will open a data center region in the country, and partner with domestic cloud provider Chmura Krajowa to help sell Azure and other Microsoft enterprise services.

Chmura provider

"I deeply believe that Microsoft’s investment in Poland will be important for enterprises, public institutions and the education system and will enable them to digitally transform and implement new work standards. Our primary goal is to accelerate Poland’s transformation into a technological hub for the region of Central and Eastern Europe," Mateusz Morawiecki, prime minister of Poland, said in a statement.

Microsoft said that it plans to upskill sround 150,000 business employees, educators, students, and citizens in digital transformation, with training, e-learning programs, workshops and hackathons covering cloud computing, developing with AI and machine learning technologies, big data and the Internet of Things (IoT).

Its seven-year partnership with Chmura Krajow (National Cloud) will help with the digital transformation efforts, the company said. The move follows Google's team up with the Polish cloud joint venture between PKO Bank Polski and the Polish Development Fund last year. "This is another important step on the road to digitization and accelerating the development of the entire Polish economy," Zbigniew Jagiełło, CEO of PKO Bank Polski, said.

"A special step in the face of irreversible changes that are taking place before our eyes in the socio-economic ecosystem. Digital transformation is a great opportunity to deal with the current crisis faster and more effectively. Cloud technology is the future that we want to pursue today."

Microsoft currently operates 53 cloud regions around the world, some consisting of multiple data center locations, some made up of a single site. Including the Polish region, it has six publicly announced regions under development.