Telecom Italia's board on Thursday geared up a proposal to set up a national cloud hub that would safely store public administration data, two sources close to the matter said.
The plan - which will also involve state lender CDP, defence group Leonardo and Italian government IT agency Sogei - is due to be presented to Italy's Innovation minister in the coming weeks.
The board of Leonardo is expected to discuss the proposal on Sept. 30, a third source added.
The cloud hub, one of the projects funded by the European Union to help Italy's economy recover from the pandemic, reflects European efforts to make the 27-member bloc less dependent on large overseas tech companies for cloud services.
In its national Recovery Plan sent to Brussels in April to access EU funds, Rome earmarked 900 million euros ($1.06 billion) for it.
Earlier this month, Telecom Italia (TIM) Chief Executive Luigi Gubitosi said the group would submit a proposal by the end of September.
The four partners will likely create a new company to work on the project which is championed by CDP, he added. RTRS