Naver Cloud, the cloud computing arm of Korea's IT giant Naver, said Friday it has teamed up with Philippine fiber optic internet provider Converge ICT Solutions to speed up digital transformation in the Southeast Asian country.

Under the deal, the two sides agreed to collaborate to discuss ways to leverage Naver’s expertise to deliver innovative cloud solutions for the specific needs of Filipino customers.

Converge is the fastest-growing broadband provider in the Philippines with a fiber footprint of more than 690,000 kilometers nationwide. It offers services to residential and enterprise customers.

They plan to promote all-around cooperation for digital transformation projects in the Philippines by utilizing the Korean cloud computing firm’s innovative technology capabilities related to smart cities and business capabilities such as large language model, sovereign cloud and business-to-business communication tools.

"The Philippines is a high potential market for cloud and digital transformation business growth, and with the signing of the memorandum of understanding, we expect to contribute to the digital transformation of the Philippines," Naver Cloud CEO Kim Yu-won said.

"We’ll collaborate with Converge based on our capability in smart city technologies and localized sovereign AI, sovereign cloud implementation to secure data sovereignty," he added.

Converge will serve as Naver’s major managed service provider partner in the Philippines and expand its cloud and digital transformation business for local customers by utilizing the Korean cloud computing firm’s Singapore region.

Since Naver is pursuing a sovereign strategy that protects data sovereignty by safely storing customers' data in its own cloud, while providing an artificial intelligence system and based on its hyperscale AI model, HyperClova X, various AI-related projects are also being discussed.

"This partnership is poised to enhance accessibility, and efficiency for businesses and individuals alike, marking an exciting development for the Philippines’ cloud market,” Converge CEO and co-founder Dennis Anthony Uy said.