{"id":13669,"date":"2020-06-16T12:09:28","date_gmt":"2020-06-16T02:09:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/macquarietechnologygroup.com\/news\/macquarie-announces-new-canberra-government-data-centre\/"},"modified":"2023-04-18T15:19:48","modified_gmt":"2023-04-18T05:19:48","slug":"macquarie-announces-new-canberra-government-data-centre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/macquarietechnologygroup.com\/news\/macquarie-announces-new-canberra-government-data-centre\/","title":{"rendered":"Macquarie Announces New Canberra Government Data Centre"},"content":{"rendered":"
Macquarie Data Centres invest $100M in Australian data centres this year with both Fortune 100 and 42% of Federal Government now leveraging its facilities.<\/em><\/p>\n Macquarie Government<\/a> and Macquarie Data Centres<\/a>, part of bet365 live casino games (ASX: MAQ), today announced the build of a new data centre, Intellicentre 5 (IC5), at its Canberra campus<\/a> as the demand for Macquarie Government\u2019s cloud and cyber security services rises.<\/p>\n With construction due to commence in July, the initial investment of $17 million will be used to build stage one \u2013 1.5 megawatts (MW) \u2013 by December 2020. Once completed, the full Canberra campus comprising IC4 and IC5<\/a> will be 4MW, with additional capacity to expand further if required.<\/p>\n The announcement follows significant expansion of Macquarie\u2019s Government business in recent months, with 42 per cent of agencies and personnel now leveraging its cyber security, secure internet gateway (SIG)<\/a> and cloud services. This includes a recent $20 million deal with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO)<\/a> to protect it from security threats.<\/p>\n \u201cRisk to Government of a cyber breach and the dependency on cloud services are at an all-time high \u2013 we\u2019re not just going to return to the \u2018norm\u2019 after this pandemic and facilities of this calibre are an essential requirement in Canberra,\u201d said Aidan Tudehope, Managing Director, Macquarie Government.<\/p>\n \u201cGovernment departments need to have clarity over data sovereignty<\/a> \u2013 who controls the data, where does it reside, and who has access. We cover these bases by ensuring Australian control and access only by Australian Government-cleared specialists. The IC5 South Bunker<\/strong> at Macquarie Data Centres\u2019 Canberra Campus<\/a> will also provide a safe haven for agencies that don\u2019t want all their eggs in one basket, whether that\u2019s splitting data between our facilities or other providers.\u201d<\/p>\n The investment will also leverage the Federal Government\u2019s \u2018Instant Asset Write-Off\u2019 and \u2018Backing Business Investment\u2019 stimulus measures providing accelerated capital allowances deductions for plant, equipment and other depreciating assets.<\/p>\n \u201cIC5 and Macquarie\u2019s investment into Australia\u2019s data centre<\/em> ecosystem will not only create valuable jobs, but build sovereign security skills and capabilities in what has become a vital industry for our nation,\u201d said Senator Zed Seselja, Assistant Minister for Finance, Charities and Electoral Matters. \u201cThis kind of investment, backed by the Government\u2019s stimulus measures, is essential to growing Australia\u2019s economy after the pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n The new facility will leverage the latest physical and virtual security and compliance credentials to manage Government cloud workloads at the protected, secret and above levels. These include being designed to achieve Tier IV data centre standards, being SCEC Zone 5 ready, and retaining 180 plus NV1 government-cleared engineers.<\/p>\n Macquarie also aims to further capitalise on the increasing trend of hybrid IT in Australia. A recent report from IDC indicated IT services revenue will grow from nearly $20 billion in 2019 to $24 billion in 2023, primarily driven by hybrid cloud and security-related services[1].<\/p>\n \u201cThe trend towards hybrid IT is only accelerating in the advent of the pandemic due to a step-change in online behaviour. We are injecting circa $100 million into the economy this year with stage one of the build of our IC3 hyperscale Sydney facility at our Macquarie Park Data Centre Campus<\/a> and the new IC5 South Bunker at our Canberra Campus,\u201d said David Hirst, Group Executive, Macquarie Data Centres.<\/p>\n \u201cMacquarie\u2019s 18 plus years of experience and strong ties to the Federal Government are enticing to the hyperscale and multinational SaaS market, which are keen to conduct business and securely expand their cloud footprint among Australian Government agencies.\u201d<\/p>\n IC5 will also see the creation of a number of permanent and temporary jobs in areas such as cyber security, engineering and construction. Macquarie also plans to expand its existing graduate program to give additional opportunities to new graduates and help meet the industry\u2019s growing need for skilled professionals[2].<\/p>\n