Serene Nah, Managing Director and Head of Asia Pacific, Digital Realty

The evolution of technology has brought about a profound transformation in the way we live our lives. From the way we communicate and work to the way we entertain ourselves, technology has touched every aspect of our existence. This was never more evident than in the past 12 months, as developments in artificial intelligence (AI), hybrid IT, and high-density computing systems hurtled towards a tipping point.

The data center’s critical role in the modern digital economy is undisputed, and the industry continues to push boundaries to anticipate our customers’ needs to enable the world’s steadfast growth through it all. At Digital Realty, 2023 was exciting and memorable as we developed significant capabilities, doubled down on core data center services, and further strengthened our presence in the Asia Pacific to better serve our customers.

The incredible rise of AI

Interest in AI exploded in 2023 as the arrival of LLMs (large language models) and generative AI made the benefits of the technology clearer and more accessible than ever before. As consumers, businesses, and governments scramble to leverage AI in every façade of their lives and organizations, digital infrastructure requirements for AI workloads have surged – and will continue to rise as they seek to keep up with the demands of this rapidly advancing field.

Digital Realty is ready for this challenge. We announced our first AI-ready data center for our ability to provide a dedicated, robust, and resilient environment optimized for intensive computing systems deployments at scale. We further demonstrated our commitment to staying ahead of the curve in AI technology, introducing on PlatformDIGITAL^®, our cutting-edge global data center platform, high-density (HD) colocation solutions offering up to 70 kilowatts per rack that can support AI workloads and their unique demands.

With certifications and innovative solutions in place, Digital Realty is well-equipped to handle the growing needs of AI-powered businesses, ensuring that they have the infrastructure they need to harness the full potential of AI. By partnering with us, companies can confidently navigate the AI landscape, knowing they have a reliable and knowledgeable partner to support them every step of the way.

Supporting data intelligence with a connected platform approach to digital infrastructure

In the Asia Pacific and around the world, the amount of data that enterprises and technology service providers produce, use, consume, and exchange is growing exponentially. They are also turning to a blend of hybrid IT and the cloud. Indeed, an IDC survey of businesses in the Asia Pacific shows that over 77% of organizations are currently utilizing either a multi-cloud or hybrid cloud setup, and this number is projected to increase to 84% within the next two years.

We believe the best way to unleash data’s full potential is by first helping organizations access and use it through a global open connected digital infrastructure platform. We continued to focus on supporting customers on their data-first journey this year, helping enterprises navigate increasingly dynamic and complex landscapes in the face of explosive data growth. This includes delivering security, regulatory compliance, and the flexibility and scalability they need as they move towards a hybrid IT or multi-cloud strategy.

On this front, we were named a Leader in both IDC’s Global and inaugural Asia Pacific MarketScape reports for data center services for our compelling solutions to meet global hybrid and multi-cloud infrastructure requirements. We also picked up a “Best Data Center” award from the Computer Association of Hong Kong, further underscoring our standing in the industry.

Seamless connectivity is central to a data-centric hybrid, multi-cloud approach. We cherish the strong relationships with our global partners and intensified our collaboration with several partners this year. As part of our efforts here, we recently announced the AWS Direct Connect on-ramp in Seoul at ICN10, our flagship facility in South Korea, and inked a Memorandum of Understanding with Korea Telecom to enhance connectivity at ICN10. We also brought a number of our global relationships including with Hurricane Electric and Options Technology to Asia Pacific customers, expanding our partner ecosystem in the region.

A relentless push for sustainability

Around the world, public awareness continues to grow around the importance of sustainability. Customers and stakeholders are rightly demanding sustainable solutions, while regulatory pressure from governments is increasing. As a company, we are committed to implementing sustainable practices in all aspects of our operations for our stakeholders and the communities we operate in, and we continued to drive leadership and gains in sustainability in the Asia Pacific region this year.

As an example, we completed the deployment of solar panels at all our Singapore facilities to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. MC Digital Realty, our joint venture with Mitsubishi Corp in Japan, also announced its inaugural green bond earlier this year to fund the development and operations of KIX12 – the third building on its Osaka campus. And by January 2024, we will have transitioned to renewables across all our multi-tenant data centers in Australia.

We seek to implement deeper, impactful solutions not just for new data centers, but for existing facilities as well. Our work on an innovative water-saving solution at the SIN10 data center helped save 1.24 million liters of water per month and saw us being awarded the SEAA award from the Singapore Environment Council. Finally, our ongoing efforts on sustainability saw us chosen by Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) to trial its new sustainability standard for data centers in tropical climates published in June 2023.

Preparing to forge ahead

Technology adoption in Asia Pacific continues to rapidly advance, with several governments in the region promoting digital transformation initiatives to drive economic growth, stability, and competitiveness.

Since 2010 when Digital Realty first entered the Asia Pacific market, we have grown our presence in the region and established the groundwork for future growth to serve our customers here. This year, we expanded our footprint in Japan with the launch of the state-of-the-art KIX13 data center in Osaka in February 2023. We finalized a 3-way joint venture with Brookfield Infrastructure and Reliance Industries to launch Digital Connexion which will operate highly connected and scalable data centers in India, beginning with the launch of its first site MAA10 in Chennai in January 2024. We also look forward to launching our next data center in Tokyo, NRT12, in March next year.

As a hybrid data center operator, we serve the full spectrum of customer needs, from single cabinets to multi-MW. Combining that with our market-leading connectivity solution ServiceFabric® unleashes a secure and scalable way for customers to navigate digital transformation journeys. Our growing partner ecosystem is central to building connected, open data communities in our role as a meeting place for companies and data.

As we look forward to 2024, we feel excited about the opportunity ahead. APAC is rapidly digitizing and, per our estimation of 461,000 exabytes of data by 2025, is set to be the region with the greatest incremental enterprise data created and utilized. Our specialist teams stand ready to help clients tackle the shifting sands of technology evolution. We are excited to be a part of shaping what lies ahead and look forward to an even more successful 2024.

The Data Explosion: Mitigating Data Gravity with Hybrid Cloud Adoption