How will the Data Centre

Industry Support Rapid Digital

Growth and Innovation in Asia?
Data Centres:
Physical Home of Data
In today’s hyper-connected world, every streaming entertainment or communicat-
aspect of our professional and personal ing with friends and colleagues 10,000
lives is deeply reliant on data. A web of miles away – our ability to work, com-
interconnected infrastructure – data cen- municate, and recreate is increasingly
tres, subsea fiber optic cables, wireless underpinned by the Internet. This accel-
towers, satellites – forms the backbone of erated demand for digital services is only
global digital connectivity on which our projected to grow with adoption of 5G,
modern economy and society depend. artificial intelligence (AI), IoT, and further
expansions of cloud computing. The explo-
Whether it’s checking the news, social sive growth in digitalisation, e-commerce,
media or ordering meal deliveries on our and digital banking in countries such as
phone; sending and backing up emails; India, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam
12:00 PM
5:00 AM Order lunch for
Wake up and check your the office using a 4:00 PM
email on your phone meal delivery app
Check in on your
pets at home with
2:00 PM your remote
During a check-up, camera
your doctor
downloads and 8:00 PM
reviews an MRI Use an app to send
taken at a nearby
2:00 AM money to your friend
provider for half the dinner bill
Automatic
nightly backups
of your personal 6:00 PM
laptop and work
computer. 8:00 AM Check online
4:00 AM
Pull up the restaurant
Mobile daily news on reviews and use
devices your phone an app to make
update apps a reservation
and software

3:00 AM 7:00PM
5:00PM
Your local utility Stream your Your car’s 11:00PM
posts your favourite navigation
monthly bill and Dim the lights
7:00AM podcast on the finds the most with your smart
your autopay Review sleep ride home fuel-efficient
kicks in – all light bulbs
and activity route to dinner
while you sleep data recorded
by your
smartwatch on
your phone 9:00AM

Go through
your calendar
for all your 11:00AM
meetings
Join a virtual
throughout
meeting
the day

9:00PM
Stream your favorite
drama with your
favorite people
 Figure 1: Share of new data centre sites to be deployed by region

present not only strong opportunities but a value of $19.08 billion by 2028 (from
urgent need for managed facilities.1 Data $12.01 billion in 2022).
centres are buildings that house and con-
nect the vital digital infrastructure that all This growth is primarily attributed to fac-
our modern-day applications run on. They tors such as robust government support
are purpose-built, professionally managed for investments, expansion in industrial
facilities that house data for networks, zones, rapid development of submarine
content, cloud and financial service pro- cable networks, entry of global coloca-
viders, the public sector, and other key tion companies into the region due to
organisations that support our everyday customer demand, and investments from
way of life. cloud service providers.2

While ongoing data centre development Looking forward, there are a number of
is spread across global regions, Asia out- industry factors and policy discussions
paces others with the largest percentage which will have the potential to determine
of new deployments (see Figure 1). The the region’s collective resilience and capa-
APAC data centre colocation market alone bility to respond to critical data needs.
is expected to grow at a compound annual
growth rate (CAGR) of 8.02% to reach
The Shift from Server Rooms
to Data Centres

The growing demand for cloud, virtuali- security and performance. Further, the
sation, and the practical need for scalable shift to colocation and distributed infra-
growth, while maintaining control of data structure can also help address several
and compliance with regulations, are issues around control over data and regu-
fueling a change in how data is housed latory compliance.
across industries. It has resulted in a shift
from servers being maintained in enter- Future colocation expansion has the
prise-managed “IT closets” to modern potential to aid in the growth of services
data centres, which are dedicated facili- such as cloud connectivity and hybrid
ties designed to house, power, cool and infrastructure services. The adoption of
secure IT equipment in the most efficient cloud connectivity solutions is projected
way possible. to grow at a rate of 25% in Asia-Pacific
through to 2026.5 Retail colocation ser-
In fact, a 2020 study of data centres glob- vices in APAC will continue to grow as
ally found that while computing power the shift from traditional server room infra-
jumped sixfold from 2010 to 2018, data structure to data centres accelerates in
centre energy consumption rose only 6%. several developing countries.6
Professionally designed, built and run
wholesale colocation data centres allow Ensuring that data centre operators are
for on-premises equipment and work- working closely with governments to
loads to be moved to dramatically more address opportunities, challenges and
efficient settings.3 Retail colocation data solutions as the industry grows will be key
centres also uniquely allow customers to driving the sustainable development of
to interconnect (via direct fiber connec- digital infrastructure needed to support
tions) with ecosystem partners in their continued innovation.
facilities,4 enabling the direct exchange
of data between organisations, which
reduces latency and cost, and improves
Demand for Sharper Strategies
on Sustainable Growth

Advancements in generative AI and the The data centre industry is a major buyer
rapid maturation of large language mod- of renewable energy, and this has a signif-
els (LLM) are expected to further drive icant impact on the energy mix. In seeking
demand for computing resources and data expanded use of renewable energy, the
centres with higher density deployment industry has traditionally been a driver
levels. Data centre operators have stepped of demand for renewable energy devel-
up to meet environmental responsibilities opment in global markets. Governments
by being at the forefront of innovation in across the region are also cognisant of the
exploring new ways to ensure that their issue, and are working on policies to boost
facilities run with maximum efficiency. sustainability efforts. Enhanced public-pri-
Realising the benefits of energy-intensive vate collaboration to expand production
new applications while meeting ambitious and access to clean and renewable energy
climate targets will require adoption of would be vital to maintaining the sustain-
new, more efficient methods of cooling. able growth of data centres across the
region. The APDCA will work alongside
In parts of Asia that are susceptible to governments to drive meaningful impact
extreme heat or drought, innovation in in this area.
water usage to cool data centres as well
as sharing of best practices will be criti-
cal. For example, many data centres now
utilise air-cooled chillers that recirculate
water in a closed loop, drastically reducing
their water use. Many data centre opera-
tors are piloting new projects around water
discharge and carbon emissions with the
potential to meaningfully change the game
in data centre sustainability.
Security and Resilience
of Data Centres

As key sectors of the economy are As our lives become more intertwined with
increasingly dependent on data centre data and our communities are becoming
reliability and performance, ensuring the digital first, through such technologies as
uninterrupted operation of services is a mobile banking, ride-hailing, food delivery,
primary focus of data centre operators. and financial services, governments in the
Industry standards for power uptime are region are exploring regulations to address
99.999%, and operators deploy advanced national security issues associated with
security equipment, techniques and pro- data management. Accelerating digital
cedures to control and monitor access to adoption and improving citizen experience
their sites. While outages are becoming is a key aspect of several government ini-
less common, their impacts are widely tiatives across the region.
felt when they do occur.7 Operators are
continuously investing in best practices to The growth of the data centre industry has
reduce the risk of downtime incidence and enabled the development and deployment
deliver resilient services. of new technologies and products, which
require ever-greater data capacity and the
The centrality of data centres to economic ability to scale at higher speeds. In one of
and strategic well-being has translated the fastest growing, most data-intensive
into additional policy action, ranging from regions in the world, the APDCA has been
strengthened regulation in some jurisdic- formed as a collective voice to work with
tions (to designate data centers as part governments across Asia-Pacific in co-de-
of critical national infrastructure [CNI] in veloping policies that align with national
some countries, for instance) to capac- priorities, drive the sustainable develop-
ity building on digital infrastructure in ment of robust digital infrastructure, and
emerging economies. Data centres are deliver lasting benefits to local communi-
increasingly seen as a crucial element for ties in which they operate.
global leadership in emerging technolo-
gies such as AI.
Endnotes

1 IT News (2021) Why Asia Pacific’s data centre demand is surging,

https://www.itnews.asia/news/why-asia-pacifics-data-centre-demand-
is-surging-562226

2 IT News Online (2023) Asia-Pacific Data Center Colocation Mar-

ket Outlook Report 2023-2028, https://www.itnewsonline.com/
PRNewswire/Asia-Pacific-Data-Center-Colocation-Market-Outlook-
Report-2023-2028-Featuring-Key-DC-Investors---AirTrunk-Operating-
Digital-Realty-Equinix-GDS-Services-Keppel-NTT-NEXTDC--ST-Tele-
media/956398

3 Forbes (2023) Working At Full Power: Data Centers In The Era Of AI,
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2023/10/30/working-
at-full-power-data-centers-in-the-era-of-ai/?sh=b8550ec3ab02

4 Colocation or multitenant facilities host more than one tenant that colo-
cate their IT equipment in individual secure cages that are in proximity
to various digital services, customers, vendors or mission partners.

5 IDC (2023) Public Cloud Services in Asia/Pacific to Reach $153.6 Bil-

lion in 2026, According to IDC Forecast, https://www.idc.com/getdoc.
jsp?containerId=prAP50555123

6 BCG (2021) The Future of Cloud in Asia Pacific, https://web-assets.

bcg.com/17/91/e6cd678e4256b635b0c4c29ad127/the-future-of-
cloud-in-asia-pacific.pdf

7 Uptime Institute (2022) Uptime Institute Global Data Center Survey

Results 2022, https://uptimeinstitute.com/resources/research-and-re-
ports/uptime-institute-global-data-center-survey-results-2022