Tech Stories Digest

Issue #53

Hello Reader,

Could the next DC-CFA in Singapore be unveiled as soon as this coming week? There are probably quite a few WhatsApp messages going around about a closed-door meeting at IMDA in the coming days. The speculation? That it's the much-anticipated DC-CFA 2.

I did some asking around myself, and my thinking is: probably not. But as they say, anything can happen.

Anyway, this got me into a bit of a thought exercise. And for what it's worth, I think we are looking at the topic of fresh data centre capacity in Singapore the wrong way. Because new data centre capacity won't just come from the DC-CFA but will be allocated through various other avenues.

And as I wrote in a post on Thursday, here’s how I see Singapore’s path forward for data centres.

All clues are already in the Green Data Centre Roadmap.
DC-CFA is but one avenue of allocating DC capacity.
Singapore isn't keen to be an AI training hub.
It cares about strategic opportunities.

What’s the shape of data centres to come?

Think bigger - beyond individual data centres, towards traditional developments to ones that extend beyond its walls. And also think smaller, because I’m pretty sure there’ll eventually be an emphasis on retrofitting existing infrastructure.

Finally, for those not already familiar with Batam, I did a post on the growing cluster of data centres there. Check it out here. I’m also hoping to visit some of these data centres in the months ahead.

As usual, you can reach me by replying to this email.

You have a wonderful week ahead.

Regards,
Paul Mah.