Italy declares €8 bn data‑center projects of strategic national importance

The Italian cabinet, on the proposal of Business and Made‑in‑Italy Minister Adolfo Urso, declared two large data‑center programmes as of pre‑eminent strategic national interest. Each programme receives around €4 billion, for a total of about €8 billion in direct foreign investment. The first, called “Equinix for Italy”, will build seven new data‑processing sites in Settimo Milanese and Cusago (Metropolitan Milan) between 2026 and 2033. The second, the “Cavour Hyperscale Campus”, will convert a former power‑plant in the province of Vercelli into a hyperscale data‑center.

Urso said the moves aim to make Italy “a credible and attractive destination for high‑tech international investment” and to turn the country into a European hub for the digital economy, boosting AI development and technological sovereignty. The projects will be powered entirely by renewable energy, create roughly 1,500 construction jobs and more than 500 permanent positions, and are part of a broader industrial policy to strengthen Italy’s role in major tech supply chains.