Google plans to invest more than $850 million in a data centre in Uruguay, which will become the tech giant’s second facility of its kind in Latin America after a debut in Chile nine years ago.

Announcing the project, president of Google Cloud for Latin America Eduardo Lopez explained the new data centre will be located in the city of Canelones, and will solidify the company’s presence and existing work in the country.

Google expects the data centre to bring “greater connectivity across the region” and stimulate development of government services along with those for businesses and local communities, while improving access to AI.

It added the establishment of the data centre builds on existing efforts in Uruguay including partnerships with two universities “to incorporate technology content into related courses”, and a project with start-up academies to promote business and innovation.

“Today marks an important milestone for Google’s longstanding commitment to Latin America,” Lopez said. “Opening a new data centre in Uruguay is more than just an effort to expand our support for users and customers in the region. It means creating more opportunities, bringing technical solutions to help businesses, governments and society reach their goals, and working with communities to help them strengthen their digital skills”.