Microsoft is promising a faster response to road accidents under a deal with Auckland Transport (AT).
Microsoft says having a local centre will improve the speed of AT's networks of CCTV traffic cameras. Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
AT is moving all its computing to Microsoft as its builds a big cloud services data centre in Auckland.
"The data centre region build is making great progress, and we'll be open for business next year," Microsoft said.
The US company said having a local centre would improve the speed of AT's networks of CCTV traffic cameras.
The networks at stations and intersections relied on being able to upload and download data in almost real time, said Microsoft New Zealand managing director Vanessa Sorenson in a statement.
"Having a local data centre region here in Aotearoa means much lower latency than ever, so transport systems can run more smoothly and AT is able to respond faster to security or safety incidents, in partnership with Waka Kotahi and the police," she said.
Auckland Transport said the move would cut costs as it would not need to buy extra servers when demand grows, or pay for unused IT.
"This agreement is about smarter use of resources," said executive general manager of business technology at AT, Roger Jones.
Security would improve for the transport network and customer data.
"If demand ever falls again, like it did during the Covid lockdowns, AT also won't be left paying for unused infrastructure.
"Meanwhile, next-generation security services will boost the resilience of AT's transport systems and better protect customer data."
Microsoft is training AT employees under the deal.