The Ministry of Innovation will adapt a 3,500 m² building to meet TIER III standards for modernizing the digital services of 57 public institutions.
El Salvador’s government has launched an ambitious project to strengthen its technological infrastructure: the creation of the State Data Center. Led by the Office of the Presidency’s Innovation Secretariat, the initiative is backed by a loan approved by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and will begin with an initial investment of $9 million, allocated in the 2025 budget.
These funds will finance specialized consulting to design the adaptation, internal layout, and technological outfitting of an existing government building measuring 3,500 square meters. The goal is to transform it into a TIER III category data center—an international certification that ensures infrastructure with high availability, redundant systems, and multiple energy and cooling routes, capable of operating with a maximum of 1.6 hours of downtime annually.
The consulting firm will also establish technical criteria to ensure that the future data center meets the standards required for the country’s digital transformation. The plan includes providing cloud services to 57 public institutions, enabling them to operate more securely, efficiently, and resiliently.
Strategic infrastructure for the digital economy
This project is part of the Salvadoran Data Infrastructure Development Program, supported by a total loan of $60 million approved by the IDB in October 2024 and ratified by the Legislative Assembly on March 25, 2025. According to the IDB, this initiative aims to improve the provision of digital government services as a key pillar to boost the country’s digital economy.
Marlon Herrera, investment director at the Ministry of Finance, explained that the initial $9 million will define the technical design of the center, a preliminary step before dedicating up to $30 million for its full adaptation and equipment.
From the third year onward, the plan is to gradually migrate public institutions to the state cloud, with a goal of onboarding one entity per month. This transition will improve operational efficiency and security by centralizing data under strict protection, energy redundancy, and fault tolerance standards.
Digital training for public employees
Another vital component of the program is human talent development. The project’s monitoring report, dated June 25, states that starting in 2025, an estimated 2,500 public officials will be certified in digital skills annually for at least three years. These employees must achieve a minimum score of 7.5 out of 10, which will help raise the technical level of personnel managing the digital services of the public administration.
This announcement takes place within a regional context where governments are increasingly prioritizing public sector digitalization. The implementation of sovereign data centers—controlled directly by states—has become a strategic priority to reduce technological dependence, improve service efficiency, and protect citizens’ data.
If completed on schedule, the State Data Center will not only represent a technological leap for Salvadoran public administration but will also strengthen the country’s digital economy foundation over the coming decade.
Source: El Mundo de El Salvador