The Catalan executive has opened the bidding for a contract estimated at up to 481 million euros for the first eight years, with the intention of maintaining it thereafter. This new infrastructure will host 40% of the Catalan administration's digital services and data, thereby meeting the highest European sovereignty standards. According to forecasts, the service will become operational in the second half of 2027 and be fully functional by the third quarter of that year.
The Minister of the Presidency, Albert Dalmau, highlighted that the new Catalan cloud will be able to "protect and store" citizen data and public services. Currently, 80% of the Generalitat's services are hosted on a private cloud, which is more secure but technically more limited than what large technology companies offer. This model is used for critical data and activities such as security forces, healthcare, and economic activities. The remaining 20% is on the public cloud, used for services requiring greater dynamism.
The proposed infrastructure combines the advantages of both models: it guarantees the security and control standards of a private network while maintaining the performance and innovation capabilities of public clouds. Once operational, the new cloud will host 40% of services and data, with 30% remaining in a private cloud and the other 30% utilizing public clouds to leverage their innovation and scalability.
The Generalitat indicates that this sovereign public cloud model is a "pioneer" in the European Union for its level of compliance with digital sovereignty standards. It will be the first to achieve the SEAL 3 level of the European framework, ensuring that all hosted data is under European control. Furthermore, it will be able to operate autonomously against potential third-party dependencies, and the service provider will be exclusively subject to European legislation, offering a guarantee of trust and security.
The new sovereign public cloud will be located in Catalonia and connected to other infrastructures to ensure information protection and traceability. This project is part of the Generalitat de Catalunya's Technological Autonomy Strategy (ESTRATEC), which includes other initiatives such as the artificial intelligence gigafactory in Móra la Nova. Both infrastructures mutually reinforce each other to form a comprehensive model of digital autonomy.
Albert Dalmau framed this initiative within the context of European technological repositioning against competition between the United States and China, sending a message of "forcefulness" from the Generalitat. The executive advocates for data protection based on European jurisdiction parameters and community technologies.
