AI-driven demand underpins the region’s development as a fast-growing data centre hub with GITEX GLOBAL 2024 paving the way for insightful discussions
GITEX GLOBAL 2024, one the world’s largest tech and startup events, hosted the Middle East’s largest data centre gatherings at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), showcasing the region’s commitment to becoming a global leader in the rapidly evolving data centre market.
The conference programme underscored the far-reaching implications of AI in data infrastructure, a driving force behind the rapidly expanding billion-dollar global market, while leading enterprises captivated the audience with their innovative solutions, showcasing the future of hyperscale, modular and Edge data centres.
As businesses increasingly turn to AI, the global data centre market is projected to reach US$256 billion by the end of this year and will rise to US$775 billion by 2034.
GITEX GLOBAL serves as a critical platform for industry leaders to engage in discussions that highlight the urgent need for enhanced and scalable data centres, essential for supporting the burgeoning AI-driven demand.
Driving job opportunities and benefiting society
On ‘Data Centres Universe’, conversations focused on how hyperscale, Edge and modular data centres can contribute to the growth in the presence of the sector’s biggest names. Major players, including Khazna, Legrand, Vertiv, Alibaba Cloud, AWS, DELL, Google Cloud, IBM and Lenovo convened to share their perspectives on the evolving trajectory of the industry, explore potential avenues for accelerated growth and underscore the critical role of expansion in catalysing global ambitions for AI-driven innovation.
Hassan Al Naqbi, CEO of Khazna Data Centers, one of the MENA region’s largest hyperscale wholesale data centre providers, explained during a panel discussion that more data centres not only boost the market’s growth but also build capacity, support talent development and foster employment to meet the increasing demand.
“A lot of people think that data centres are not a job creation machine. However, data centres are vital for economies and have different roles involved. If you look at all the hyperscales, their data centres are having a huge impact on the economy as people can secure jobs which are vital for the day-to-day operations,” Al Naqbi said.
As the conversation shifted toward the future of data centres, industry experts emphasised the importance of sustainable practices in their development as the industry’s advancements enable the next generation of tech solutions and services.
Marc Marazzi, Vice President of Legrand Data Center Solutions, shared his perspective on the need for careful planning and environmental responsibility in this rapidly expanding market. He believes the industry will go from strength to strength, but organisations must exercise caution in their decision-making when building data centres taking into account long-term considerations of how the world will evolve over the next decade.
“It’s great to see many taking the green initiative very seriously and looking at the way they are building and cooling data centres,” Marazzi added. “Today, they are bigger than ever before and being built faster but we must not lose sight of the importance of how we manufacture, what we are installing and how they are managed. Data centres are built with 15 years in mind and we have to think what they would look like in a specific time and get it right from the beginning.”
