How Asite is ensuring data sovereignty for construction projects in the Middle East
All customers can expect their data to be handled and processed with a high level of protection, regardless of the quantity or sensitivity level writes Asite CEO Nathan Doughty
Smart cities. Construction technology. Digital tools. Cloud computing. These are all revolutionising the way the construction industry operates in the Middle East. Powering it all is technology. According to the International Data Company (IDC), total cloud spending by public and private entities in the region will reach $2.5bn by 2025—a phenomenal growth trajectory.
This is not surprising given the region’s digital dominance. It is a hub for some of the most exciting and innovative projects globally in the construction industry, such as Neom in Saudi Arabia,and the upcoming Qatar FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
This digital charge is most notable in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), where growth is spurred on by multiple significant digital-led initiatives, including the ambitious Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan and Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030.
Accompanying the rise of these digital solutions is the powerful data it generates. But how and where is project data stored? How do you harness and manage the data for maximum sustainability and efficiency?
Managing and Protecting Your Construction Data
Let’s look at data centres. They are physical facilities equipped with computing and networking infrastructure to securely store, process, and access large amounts of data. As such, data centres host the critical data for construction organisations in the cloud. For this reason, the concepts of data sovereignty, data localisation, and data availability are huge topics of concern for construction organisations across the Middle East.
While the three concepts are all different, all three refer to the geographical location of where an organisation’s data is stored and the laws surrounding it.
Ultimately, for most businesses in the Middle East region, ensuring their project data is protected is the highest priority. For many, this simply boils down to ensuring their data stays in its country of origin. For example, UAE project information remains in the UAE. Many companies—most notably government projects—are hesitant to move to the cloud due to concerns about their data being stored outside the region.
As part of its continued investment in the Middle East and supporting infrastructure and capital projects in the region, Asite operates two data centres.
Asite Middle East Data Centres
Asite is the world’s leading data platform for the built environment, helping organisations come together, plan, design, and build with seamless information sharing across the entire supply chain.
In line with Asite’s operating model—a global platform of cloud services delivering for businesses worldwide—Asite works tirelessly to ensure the needs of all clients in all regions are met.
To deliver on this, Asite holds server grids globally in each of its key operating locations to ensure optimum data management processes that meet local requirements. Unlike many of its competitors, Asite has two data centres in the Middle East, one in the United Arab Emirates and a second in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Speaking about the data centres, Devendra Gera, Asite Chief Technology Officer, said, “Our decision to expand Asite’s data centres is in line with our commitment to ensuring that the data and intellectual property of our clients are stored securely and in accordance with local regulations.”
In the UAE, the data centre maintains stringent compliance standards with the following certifications: ISO 9001, ISO 27001, ISO 22301, ISO 20000, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001, PCI DSS, and ISAE3402/SSAE16 Type 2. While in KSA, the data centre maintains stringent compliance standards with the following certifications: ISO 9001, ISO 27001, ISO 14001, ISO 18001, ISO/IEC 27017:2015, and ISO/IEC 27018:2014. These certifications reflect the quality of operations and excellence of the Asite service.
The opening of both data centres in 2020 was a move by Asite to strengthen its presence in the Middle East and ensure project information for UAE and KSA projects, respectively, stay in their region.
Why is this important? The move is a huge step forward in expanding the digital engineering capacity of the local industry. It helps improve the performance of data management processes for projects in the region, providing the fastest possible response times when completing day-to-day project tasks.
In fact, a number of organisations in the Middle East, including a leading property developer in UAE, trust Asite with their project portfolio. They are seeing the benefits and security of the guarantee that their data remains in the region.
With Asite, our data centres command a world-class disaster recovery service model. Here, they deliver failovers in the event of an unplanned incident, natural or human-induced, by seamlessly transferring operations to a reliable backup and ensuring the seamless recovery of data.
As Asite continues to grow and develop its capabilities, the security of our users will remain at the forefront. All customers can expect their data to be handled and processed with a high level of protection, regardless of the quantity or sensitivity level.
For more information, please visit asite.com.
