Capacity Middle East 2027

As Iraq’s digital economy expands, strong local interconnection infrastructure will be critical to delivering faster, more resilient and affordable digital services. This session will explore how the development of Iraq’s first neutral Internet Exchange serving all Iraqi regions, can strengthen the country’s domestic Internet ecosystem and support its emergence as a regional connectivity hub. 

As regional networks face increasing pressure to diversify beyond established connectivity paths, terrestrial infrastructure can provide another layer of resilience. This panel will explore how Iraq can strengthen network redundancy and ensure new corridors deliver genuine route diversity. 

Iraq's opportunity extends beyond transit traffic with Iraq's Ministry of Communications recently outlining data-centre plans spanning Baghdad, Basra and Mosul. As we see more fibre expansion and planned data-centre development in the region, how can international and domestic capital participate in the country's digital infrastructure growth? 

Türkiye's geographic position places it at the intersection of some of the world's most important emerging digital corridors. With new terrestrial and subsea infrastructure creating additional paths between Europe, the Middle East and Asia, this opening panel will explore how Türkiye can strengthen its position as a strategic regional connectivity hub. 

New international infrastructure is strengthening Türkiye's potential as an entry and exit point for traffic between Europe and markets further east and south. Projects such as WorldLink propose connecting the Gulf through Iraq into Türkiye, while other terrestrial and subsea infrastructure is creating additional regional connectivity options.

Iraq's geographic position creates an opportunity to strengthen digital links between the Gulf, Asia and Europe. As new fibre routes, international partnerships and domestic infrastructure projects take shape, this opening panel will explore what is required to turn Iraq's strategic position into a competitive, scalable digital corridor.  

Türkiye's digital infrastructure opportunity goes beyond international transit. The country's 2026-2030 AI Action Plan targets increased investment in data centres, cloud computing and AI infrastructure, including an ambition to increase installed data-centre capacity to at least 1 GW by 2030. This panel will explore: 

With investment accelerating across data centres, cloud and AI infrastructure, how can Türkiye convert its geographic connectivity advantage into a broader digital infrastructure ecosystem? Türkiye's current AI strategy explicitly seeks to mobilise significant private-sector investment into data centres, cloud and AI infrastructure, making the investment proposition particularly timely. 

 

Rapid investment in AI, data centres, cloud and connectivity is expanding the region’s digital capabilities, but it is also increasing the potential consequences of disruption. This opening panel will examine how governments and industry can protect essential infrastructure while preserving the speed and openness required for growth. 

As AI becomes embedded across government, telecoms and enterprise operations, organisations must secure more than the underlying infrastructure. Models, training data, inference environments, AI agents and employee use of third-party tools all introduce new points of exposure. 

The scale of the Middle East’s AI ambitions has created a new generation of large, concentrated infrastructure projects. Recent debate around Stargate UAE has raised an important strategic question: should critical compute remain concentrated in mega-campuses, or should capacity be distributed across smaller, interconnected and more protected facilities? 

A focused case-study presentation examining how cyber incidents can affect physical operations, safety and service continuity across telecoms, energy, utilities, ports and data centres. 

Telecoms and cable infrastructure underpin cloud services, AI platforms, financial systems and government communications. This panel will explore how operators can strengthen resilience against cyberattacks, physical disruption and geopolitical instability without revealing sensitive operational vulnerabilities. 

 

Critical-information-infrastructure rules, data-localisation requirements and national cybersecurity frameworks are developing across the Middle East. This panel will examine how organisations can move beyond compliance exercises and build security, sovereignty and trust into regional infrastructure from the outset. 

Digital infrastructure depends on global suppliers of network equipment, software, semiconductors, power systems and industrial technology. This presentation will explore how organisations can identify cybersecurity exposure before equipment is deployed into nationally significant infrastructure. 

When critical infrastructure is attacked, technical containment is only one part of the response. Senior leaders must make rapid decisions about service continuity, government notification, communications, customers, partners and operational safety. 

This candid conversation will explore: 

No organisation can guarantee that every attack will be prevented. This panel will therefore focus on the practical capabilities needed to contain disruption, maintain essential services and recover quickly when an incident succeeds. Building continuity plans around realistic cyber and physical scenarios.

Technology alone cannot secure the region’s expanding digital infrastructure. This presentation will consider how government, defence, universities and industry can build the specialist skills and broader security culture required for the next phase of growth. 

Cyber threats do not respect organisational or national boundaries. The final panel will look ahead at how the Middle East can develop a stronger model of collective defence that supports information sharing, coordinated response and trusted digital growth. 

The Middle East’s position between Europe, Asia and Africa has always made it strategically important to international connectivity. However, disruption around the Red Sea, reliance on a limited number of corridors, regional developments and the emergence of alternative terrestrial routes are changing how operators assess resilience. How can the Middle East become the world’s most resilient and interconnected digital crossroads? 

AI infrastructure is driving unprecedented demand for fibre, IP transit and subsea capacity. Can Middle Eastern networks deliver the route diversity, affordability and 400G and 800G connectivity needed to compete as a global AI hub? 

The search for more resilient international connectivity is accelerating investment in new terrestrial and subsea corridors linking the Gulf with Europe, Central Asia, South Asia and Africa. Which routes have the strongest commercial case, where will future traffic growth come from, and what partnerships, investment and regulatory frameworks are needed to bring them to market? 

What legal, regulatory and commercial frameworks are helping the Middle East emerge as a destination for digital infrastructure investment? 

AI is creating new opportunities across every industry, but also introducing new risks. What security challenges will define the next generation of AI-enabled infrastructure and services? 

Connectivity providers, hyperscalers, data centre operators and governments are collaborating more closely than ever. What makes these partnerships successful? 

Connectivity, cloud, AI infrastructure and data centres are increasingly interconnected. What new opportunities emerge when these ecosystems are planned and developed together?