The Deputy Ministry of Innovation is proceeding with plans to relocate all 40 of the Government's Data Centers to secure locations. This initiative follows a wake-up call from an incident in April 2023, involving a water leak and flooded servers in the basement of the Ministry of Finance. 

It has been identified that currently, 5-6 centers do not meet the required standards. These centers will be prioritized in the relocation process to other safe locations.

Speaking to journalists, the Deputy Minister of Innovation, Nikodimos Damianou, disclosed that upon assuming office, he requested and was briefed on the risks associated with state data centers. These are locations housing government departmental computers, servers, and other network devices and systems.

Mr. Damianou emphasized that these risks have been present for years. "The problems have pre-existed for many years, and no resolution decision was taken by previous governments," he noted. It was known since 2019 about the problems with servers at the Ministry of Finance, but no action was taken.

Notably, an independent agency's research in 2019 on government data centers highlighted the risks and problematic storage conditions of the servers in the basement of the Ministry of Finance. Despite awareness of the problem and discussions for solutions, no decision was taken for four years, leading to the known incident with the water leak.

Mr. Damianou pointed out that there are other data centers in unsuitable locations, stressing the need to ensure uninterrupted operation by housing them in standard-compliant locations as per best practices.

"We must act swiftly to ensure the safety and suitability of the system hosting spaces to eliminate the risk of similar incidents in the future. The Government, aware of these longstanding risks, has prioritized immediate action to find an effective overall solution. These efforts have already commenced," said the Deputy Minister.

The Deputy Minister of Innovation referred to the findings of the administrative investigation conducted regarding the incident at the Ministry of Finance.

The investigation revealed significant delays and time-consuming procedures for decision-making regarding the relocation of IT systems from unsuitable locations to appropriate data centers, a substantial deficit and lack of accountability culture, significant shortcomings in the procedures and mechanisms for monitoring systems and conditions in data centers as per best practices, and weaknesses, dysfunctions, and inadequacies in administration methods.

Mr. Damianou expressed dissatisfaction with the investigation's outcome. "Based on my professional experience, primarily the IT services bear primary responsibility for the smooth operation of these systems. However, the report's outcome is unsatisfactory. There is a specific report and framework within which I am called to operate. I will send this report, along with my remarks, to the Legal Service for their review and advice."

In another development, Mr. Damianou mentioned that an official announcement is imminent regarding a framework agreement (Enterprise Agreement) worth €8 million signed with Microsoft. This agreement pertains to the procurement of Microsoft 365 software licenses for 10,000 public sector users.

He explained that the agreement includes licenses for a wide range of modern tools, such as email services, secure collaboration and document distribution tools, cloud computing services, project management tools, and staff training.

"This is a strategic agreement expected to significantly enhance the efficiency of the public service. It's part of a series of actions we are planning to modernize the internal operations of the state machinery," said Mr. Damianou.