SINGAPORE: Singapore has one of the world’s densest data centre capacities, but there is still room for more growth as it sees artificial intelligence (AI) playing a prominent role in its economy, says Digital Development and Information Minister Josephine Teo.
“If you look at our data centre capacity relative to the size of gross domestic product and compare it with, say, Japan or China, then actually we have way more,” she said.
“Take Japan, for example, it has a population that is maybe 20 times the size of Singapore’s.
“Its gross domestic product is maybe 10 times the size of Singapore’s, but actually if you look at its data centre capacity, I don’t think it is more than one-and-a-half times the size of Singapore’s.
“So, if you do that comparison across different jurisdictions, then Singapore has one of the densest data capacities.”
Teo, who is also the Minister-in-charge of Smart Nation and Cybersecurity, was speaking at a fireside chat moderated by Fortune executive editor Clay Chandler during the American media company’s Brainstorm AI Singapore event on Tuesday.
When asked about Singapore’s resource constraints and the problem of data centres consuming too much energy, she said that while the government did not want to limit growth as AI is a prominent technology supporting the entire economy, more demand and workloads will soon be placed on data centres in Singapore.
There are currently 1.4 gigawatts of computing capacity across more than 70 data centres in the republic.
In comparison, Japan has 251 data centres, while China has 449, according to data from Statista.
In May, the government announced that at least 300 megawatts (MW) of data centre capacity will be added in the next few years.
“The question is how do we do it while also being able to fulfill our commitments to the net-zero pathway, as well as being responsible in sustainability,” Teo said. — The Straits Times/ANN
