The federal government has promised to put $8.9 million towards Anittel's custom data centre for James Cook University in Queensland.
Anittel won the tender for the project in January. The build of the centre will bring cloud services to Northern Queensland and forms part of James Cook's $1 billion 'discovery rise' development - a residential 'university town' community situated next to the JCU Townsville campus.
Financial details for the ‘tropical knowledge and innovation centre’ (TKIC) have not been disclosed. The federal government funding will help Anittel "accelerate feasibility", managing director Peter Kazacos told CRN.
But a looming election means the funding is not certain. The Opposition is yet to confirm whether it would similarly commit such funding if it is elected on September 7, Kazacos said.
"Our view is Tony Abott did make an announcement early on that he would be very focused on North Queensland and growing employment."
In January Anittel revealed plans to expand its cloud services, national carrier network and hosted solutions to Northern Queensland by developing the TKIC.
The TKIC is expected to provide significant IT resources for JCU, support the North Queensland economy and create "hundreds" of local IT jobs, Kazacos said.
“Our vision to support regional economies and deliver substantial economic and employment opportunities is strengthened by this funding.”
Modular pods will be used to deliver Annitel's cloud services as they allow the company to "grow in capacity over time" and tailor the solution "to suit user demand."
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