This keynote panel brings together the region’s most influential digital infrastructure and connectivity executives to explore the most pressing topics. With an ongoing boom in digital infrastructure, driven by AI and investment, connectivity providers have an unprecedented opportunity. How are leading operators seizing this moment, and what risks do we need to be aware of?

• How are executives evaluating the opportunities for investment across digital infrastructure? And which regions offer the greatest opportunities?
• How is service evolution enhancing customer experience and unlocking new revenues?
• What are the key challenges to unlocking continued growth, and how can we overcome them?

The demands of the region's economic transformation plans on digital infrastructure are immense, from the massive data centre investment needed for AI to the low-latency connectivity needed for autonomous vehicles. All of this requires world-leading fibre networks. To deliver on these ambitious plans, the entire digital infrastructure ecosystem must invest and collaborate. 

 

• What scale of infrastructure is required to meet demands in key markets? And is the industry ready?
• What are hyperscalers and leading AI providers looking for from connectivity and digital infrastructure operators?
• How clear is the investment case for AI infrastructure investment? Or do we need to better demonstrate the potential ROI?

With a spate of recent announcements of new data centre hubs and rapid expansion of existing sites, such as Damman or Sharjah, providing diverse high-capacity connectivity is essential to unlocking the value of these sites. 

• How are the connectivity requirements of hyperscalers and other data centre tenants evolving?
• Do permitting and survey requirements for new subsea projects risk creating delays in connecting emerging data hubs? And how can we overcome these challenges?
• As the scale of data centres and their power densities expands is current fibre technology adequate to meet capacity demands?

As both the number of sites and the density of those sites increase, challenges are emerging in meeting power demands. With new GW+ projects needing ever more power, pressure on the grid and demand for new sources, including nuclear, are growing. Simultaneously, individual sites are seeing increasing density per rack, requiring innovative approaches to site design.

• How are grid operators meeting the increasing demand?
• What role can we expect renewable and nuclear power sources to play in meeting demand?
• What does increasing power density mean for data centre operators designing new sites and retrofitting existing ones?

Stargate UAE is the first international deployment of the AI infrastructure Stargate program, with the first 200MW of 1GW due to come online in 2026. While Stargate UAE will continue to enable domestic AI consumption it also has the potential to provide connectivity to almost half the world’s population, located within 2,000 miles.

• What are the demand drivers behind such a large data centre deployment?
• The role of nuclear power in providing sustainable, reliable power to the site
• How are we ensuring adequate connectivity to enable Stargate UAE to serve users beyond the UAE?

The region's higher temperatures and requirements for additional cooling drive up  PUEs, making sustainability an additional challenge. Despite pushback on sustainability, it remains crucial to many leading customers and operators of data centres.

• What solutions are data centre operators pursuing to cool sites? Is liquid cooling the only viable solution for future facilities and what does that mean for water consumption? 
• How are design teams prioritising cooling in new and existing sites?
• How  are suppliers innovating to meet cooling and sustainability demands?

With leading data centre operators in the Middle East eyeing international expansion into Europe, Africa and the US, they will require new sources of capital to make these plans a reality. 

• Will traditional sources of capital, from sovereign wealth funds and national investment banks, finance expansions beyond their home nations? 
• What role can global investment banks and private equity firms play in supporting international expansion plans?
• Do operators positioned within broader portfolios have an advantage when expanding, such as those within groups including power generation companies?

Even as the AI boom continues full throttle, questions are emerging about who controls the data and potential conflicts with national security, economic goals, and local values. Sovereign AI, trained on local data, offers a solution to these growing concerns.

• How can developing sovereign AI address concerns and meet data sovereignty regulations?
• Is it feasible for each nation to develop the infrastructure and generate the required investment to deploy sovereign AI?
• What can we learn from current projects, such as Saudi Arabia’s HumAIn and the country’s digital embassies approach?

The demands of AI are pushing the traditional model of data centre design. Flexibility and scalability are vital to meeting the increasing demands from advanced workloads and the unprecedented demand for compute power.

• What does higher rack density mean for cooling in the region?

• Will the rise of modular design become standard for new sites?

• How are the demands of latency and power impacting design?