(ANSA) - UDINE, 29 SET - An investment of around 6 million euros aims to strengthen Carinthia's digital competitiveness and make the region more attractive to high-tech companies, data-driven businesses, and international investment. This is the goal of ALPSiX, Carinthia's first regional Internet Exchange Point, officially launched on Sept. 18 at the Lakeside Science & Technology Park in Klagenfurt. The Amt der Kärntner Landesregierung, the Carinthian regional government administration, announced the news. Owned by BIK Breitbandinitiative Kärnten GmbH, ALPSiX was developed together with DE-CIX and Anexia Group. The platform allows connected networks to exchange traffic directly within Carinthia, diminishing reliance on major external hubs and improving latency, efficiency, and dependability. The infrastructure is aimed in particular at cloud services, artificial intelligence, industrial IoT, robotics, 5G applications, telemedicine, and autonomous driving. The target is to reach northern Italy and Zagreb with around 4 milliseconds of latency and Frankfurt in about 11 milliseconds. "ALPSiX creates a technological ecosystem in which new digital business models can grow," said Alexander Windbichler, CEO of Anexia. According to Regionmarketing Carinthia, the new exchange adds a strategic digital infrastructure to a region already focused on research and innovation and strengthens the position of the Klagenfurt-Villach area and the wider Alpe-Adria region within European digital networks. (ANSA).