From 1st June to 2nd June 2022, industry experts from Hong Kong and Japan came together for a series of engaging keynotes and panel discussions at the NEA Digital Week 2022, revealing fresh market insights about the future of the data centre industry in Hong Kong and Japan.
Within the Asia Pacific region, both Hong Kong and Japan are technologically-advanced markets which are rapidly innovating to accommodate the strong demand for big data amid this latest wave of digital transformation.
Speakers and panelists at the NEA Digital Week 2022 not only outlined key challenges and considerations which will impact the growing data centre industry, but also offered innovative solutions for the data centre industry to meet consumers’ data demands in a green and sustainable manner.
How Geopolitics, Sustainability Impact Hong Kong’s Data Centre Industry
NEA Digital Week 2022 began with a series of thought-provoking panel discussions and industry keynotes about challenges, considerations, and opportunities, for the data centre industry’s future growth and expansion in Hong Kong.
Moderated by Jonathan Atkin (Managing Director, RBC Capital Markets), speakers Charles Mok (Director, Tech for Good Asia), Paul Haswell (Partner, Seyfarth Shaw), Cliff Tam (Senior Vice President of Global Data Strategy & Operations, International Business, HGC), and Dr. Tan Kian Hua (Chief Information Security Officer, PCCW Solutions) Singapore discussed the ways in which geopolitical developments, and countries’ data security concerns, would affect the playing field for the data centre industry in Hong Kong.
Jabez Tan (Head of Research, Structure Research) delivered an insightful keynote on Structure Research’s projections about Hong Kong’s potential to scale up in the data centre and hyperscale cloud industries.
Daryl Dunbar (Principal and Global Data Center Advisory Practice Lead, Internal Consulting Group) then moderated another panel discussion with Travis Kan (Head of Digital Solutions, CLP) and KW Tang (Director of Cross Functional, IBX Operations, Equinix), speaking on innovations which could optimise data centre operations sustainably, reducing data centre’s carbon footprint while meeting demand for increased data storage capacity.
This discussion was followed up with an industry keynote by Yan Han (Senior Expert, Alibaba) on Alibaba’s immersive cooling technology, which could reduce data centres’ power usage effectiveness while keeping up with increased demand for cloud computing services.
The final panel discussion for the day was moderated by Dedric Lam (DCS Business Unit Director – North Asia, CBRE), with Charles Lee (CEO, OneAsia Network) and Sujit Panda (Technology Strategist, Transformational Leader & CTIO, BDx) speaking on strategies to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic’s effects on the data centre and connectivity market in Hong Kong.
Innovative Solutions and Sustainable Practices for Japan’s Data Centre Industry
The question of sustainability was brought to the forefront on the second day of NEA Digital Week 2022, through five engaging keynotes about hyperscale cloud computing and Japan’s data centre industry.
Jabez Tan returned to discuss key developments and deployments in Tokyo and Osaka’s data centre capacity, projecting strong growth in Japan’s hyperscale capacity between 2021 and 2026.
Mitsuhiro Takenaga (Sales and Marketing Manager, Seagate Japan) spoke about Seagate’s development of innovative storage technologies to ensure energy efficiency and efficient scalability in data centres even as data usage and demand for cloud services are set to spike around the globe.
Varoon Raghavan (Chief Operating Officer, Princeton Digital Group) discussed how environmentally-concerned countries such as Japan and Singapore are raising their standards and goals to reduce the environmental cost of carbon footprint, hence necessitating the development of green data centres. Notably, he said that data centres should be viewed as “solutions, rather than problems”, by leading the way in sustainable production, given the “inevitability of the data explosion”.
Scott Payton (Technical Director, Global Data Center Engineering) spoke on major colocation and hyperscale facility expansion in Japan, as well as land and power constraints which data centre companies have to work around. He says that creative innovations will be necessary to ensure the data centre industry can remain relevant and sustainable, to align with Japan’s commitment to global sustainability goals.
Finally, Christ Street (Managing Director, Head Data Centres, Asia Pacific, JLL) discussed companies’ need to be flexible in navigating the complexities and demands for investment in, and building and operation of data centres, in the world today. Notably, he compared the returns and considerations of retail, wholesale, and wholesale (hyperscale) businesses, to analyse data centres considerations for the future.
The NEA Digital Week 2020 has been a meaningful and important event, which has heralded a promising future for the sustainability of the data centre industry in Hong Kong and Japan.
W.Media would like to thank our sponsors Seagate, Princeton Digital Group, and Starline for their support which made NEA Digital Week 2022 possible.
