Singtel today launched an initiative to advance AI development in Singapore and the region, partnering with global and local ecosystem partners across AI, renewable energy, sustainable technologies, and talent development. This initiative was unveiled at the launch of Singtel's new data center brand, Nxera (pronounced "nex-zeh-ra").
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The development comes as the Singaporean telecommunications company scales its regional data center business, having gained a foothold in new markets beyond Singapore, such as Indonesia and Thailand, where it is reportedly building a new generation of green, sustainable, and hyper-connected AI-ready data centers.
Key Partnerships
As part of this initiative, Singtel has signed four sets of Memoranda of Understanding (MOU): with NVIDIA to make AI adoption more accessible in Singapore and across the region; tapping the renewable energy expertise of Gulf Energy, Medco Power, Sembcorp, and TNB Renewables to accelerate Nxera's journey towards net-zero emissions; establishing a co-innovation platform with technology partners to improve power and water efficiency and operational resilience; and creating a Regional Sustainable Data Centre Academy with five institutes of higher learning.
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Nxera and Singtel's Digital InfraCo unit said, "The launch of the Nxera data center brand is a key milestone for our data center business as we look to expand our footprint in the region beyond 200 MW over the next three years."
"Given our aim to achieve operational net-zero emissions for our data center business by 2028, these partnerships are critical to laying the groundwork for turning digitalisation into a driver for decarbonisation," Singtel added.
AI development
Singtel's key initiatives include supporting national and regional AI development, for which Singtel's Digital InfraCo unit and NVIDIA will collaborate on opportunities to support Singapore's updated National AI Strategy 2.0 to drive innovation and create new value through AI.
Sustainable Growth
For driving sustainable growth and achieving operational net-zero emissions by 2028, Nxera is reportedly working with energy players such as Sembcorp in Singapore and Gulf Energy, Medco Power, and TNB Renewables. Gulf Energy and Medco Power are partners in Nxera's data center joint ventures in Thailand and Indonesia, respectively.
Sustainable solutions
Under the sustainable solutions initiative, Nxera aims to achieve the lowest PUE and the highest water usage efficiency as part of developing the most sustainable data center platform to power the AI future.
Nxera and its partners Deston, SGP Global, QCT, Shell, Stulz, and Supermicro will establish a co-innovation platform to develop and test liquid and immersion cooling and water-saving technologies.
These technologies, once operationalised, will be implemented in DC Tuas in Singapore and data centers in the region. DC Tuas will have a PUE of 1.23 at full load and will be one of the lowest PUE and most efficient data centers in Asia, Singtel said.
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For smart IoT and digital twin platform development, Nxera partnered with the local software company Red Dot Analytics to monitor, manage, and optimise its data center operations.
Training academy
The last key initiative is creating a Regional Sustainable Data Center Academy, which will launch in mid-2024 in collaboration with institutes of higher learning to build a strong talent pipeline.
According to the official release, Nxera is currently developing three AI data center projects. The new 58 MW DC Tuas in Singapore and data centers with partners Telkom and Medco Power in Indonesia and Gulf Energy and AIS in Thailand will increase its total pipeline capacity to more than 200 MW from its current operational capacity of 62 MW in Singapore.
Singtel said Nxera will continue to execute on this approach as it expands its footprint in the Asia Pacific region.
