The Andhra Pradesh Economic Development Board (APEDB) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Alibaba Cloud to adopt cloud computing frameworks within the government model.

The MoU envisages leveraging Alibaba's Cloud and Smart City technologies for sustainable farming, integrated traffic management, smart city management, small and medium enterprises and skill development programmes.

The MoU was signed by APEDB Chief Executive Officer J Krishna Kishore and Vivek Gupta, Director - Business Development, Alibaba Cloud India, in the presence of Dr Alex Li, General Manager, Alibaba Cloud India, and N Chandrababu Naidu, the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh.

The APEDB promotes sustainable economic growth through trade, investments, partnerships and collaborations.

Alibaba Cloud, the cloud-computing arm of Alibaba Group, provides cloud-computing services to businesses of all sizes globally.

According to a statement, this MoU is a result of ongoing discussion that took place at World Economic Forum 2018, Davos between Simon Hu, Senior Vice President of Alibaba Group and President of Alibaba Cloud, and the Chief Minister.

The APEDB and Alibaba Cloud also recently concluded a multi-stakeholder workshop between Alibaba Cloud and key government departments.

"The government is ensuring that SMEs in Andhra Pradesh are integrated with global value chains. This MoU with Alibaba Cloud helps to foster greater economic growth through tech-empowered SMEs," said Kishore.

The Alibaba Cloud team also visited the state's Real Time Governance Command Control Center at the Secretariat. Li noted that Andhra Pradesh is a pioneer in adopting and implementing latest technologies in its governance model.

"We are pleased to collaborate with a progressive state such as Andhra Pradesh and we are confident to leverage the Alibaba Cloud's ET City Brain Solution for furthering the state's digital transformation and deploying advanced ICT technologies," he said.

The group is likely to extend co-operation in real-time governance functions such as traffic management, cyber surveillance, disaster management and sustainable farming, among others.

Vivek Gupta, Director - Business Development, Alibaba Cloud India, said that they would leverage Alibaba Cloud's platform to help facilitate Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the state to establish online presence, provide global market access and enable the businesses to double their incomes.

First Published:Sept 3, 2018 9:51 PM IST