Discover how du is reshaping the future of data center operations through innovation and collaboration.
In this exclusive Telecom Review interview during the 18th edition of the Telecom Review Leaders’ Summit, Majid AlNaqbi, Head of Data Center Business at du, shared insights on the transformative trends shaping the Middle East's data center landscape, highlighting du's pioneering role in sustainability and cutting-edge AI integration.
What are the key trends driving the growth of data center (DC) infrastructure in the Middle East? What is du’s role in re-shaping the DC sector?
The massive increase in demand in the data center requirements in the Middle East is being driven by multiple factors. The main factors are: the adoption of cloud (required in the Middle East and in the region), smart city initiatives (which are emerging all over the place), and AI advancement (which is playing a very crucial role in advancing and increasing the number of data center businesses and addressing their needs.)
These factors are reshaping the whole market: supply and demand are some of the really crucial elements required for implementation and adoption within data centers; alongside the growing needs of the public, private, and government sectors as they advance the technologies and AI applications they are implementing.
du’s role in the field of AI advancement is being demonstrated through multiple initiatives that we have implemented within the data centers. We recently announced one of our largest implementations, which represents the largest AI supercluster in the region and encompasses thousands of GPUs, each equipped with over 5 MW of power and the latest liquid cooling technology.
How is du addressing the sustainability of data center operations and infrastructure?
Sustainability is one of the important elements that we are looking at in our data centers, not only because it is a globally-adopted trend but also due to the successful results we have gained from implementing it in our data centers.
We're looking at multiple elements of sustainability. On the energy side, we are advancing solar power generation and its implementation to further explore clean energy solutions. Additionally, we are working with some firms on their initiatives to identify and develop other clean energy sources, including solar, nuclear, and other emerging technologies.
One of the advantages of sustainability is that it helps us a lot in terms of operational performance within the data centers. It saves not only power but also energy and water usage through cooling techniques and predictive operations, helping us maintain our data centers in the best manner and align with the latest global initiatives that are supporting sustainability and technical advancement.
How is du implementing AI to transform data center operations in the region?
We're actually implementing AI in two parts. Firstly, we are building AI data centers that support AI applications and the exploration of AI implementation within these data centers, which I refer to as the largest AI supercluster—we recently launched this; this is phase one and it will grow with another phase very soon.
Secondly, we use these AI applications for better operations, better maintenance, and predictive operations to host our equipment in a very sustainable and very safe manner within the data centers. This will reduce the downtime, the need for manual operations, and the need for manual intervention whenever needed.
In both ways, we are bolstering AI data centers with these applications and exploring the possibility of using these applications to run our operations and advanced technology applications smoothly within du.
AlNaqbi at TRS-24: The Expanding Role of Hyperscalers in the Cloud Market
