SINGAPORE, 3 September 2026 – The Asia-Pacific Data Centre Association (APDCA) has launched a new white paper titled Data centres as catalysts for infrastructure moderinisation in APAC, highlighting how data centres are helping to strengthen the energy and water systems needed to support Asia-Pacific’s future development.

As governments across Asia-Pacific look to harness AI, cloud computing and digital technologies to drive economic growth, data centres are emerging as critical strategic infrastructure underpinning the region’s development. The paper examines how the sector is contributing not only to digital growth, but also to the development and modernisation of the utility infrastructure on which economies and communities depend.

Drawing on expert interviews with data centre operators as well as insights from academics and civil society organisations, the report presents new evidence of how data centres are acting as long-term demand anchors for energy and water infrastructure, accelerating renewable energy deployment, strengthening grid resilience, and supporting more efficient, alternative and recycled water systems. It also highlights how operators are investing in utility infrastructure – including generation, grids, storage, water treatment and reclaimed-water systems – while driving innovation through new technologies, research partnerships and advanced monitoring solutions that strengthen utility systems more broadly.

The report also outlines actionable policy recommendations to unlock the sector's full potential as catalysts for broader infrastructure development, underpinned by a three-pillar Align-Accelerate-Amplify framework:

• Align: Integrate data centre demand into national and sub-national infrastructure planning.

• Accelerate: Remove bottlenecks that delay grid, water, permitting, and connection infrastructure.

• Amplify: Incentivise co-investment, innovation, and system-wide benefits from private infrastructure spending.

“Data centres are critical infrastructure for Asia-Pacific’s digital future. Their contribution extends well beyond the facilities themselves. Across the region, the sector’s scale, predictable demand and long-term investment are already helping to accelerate clean energy deployment, strengthen grids and support more resilient water systems. There is significant potential to go further. With the right policy enablers in place, governments can unlock the full potential of data centres as catalysts for infrastructure modernisation, ensuring that digital infrastructure investment delivers lasting economic, environmental and societal benefits for communities across the region,” said Jeremy Deutsch, Chair of the APDCA.

The full white paper is now available on the APDCA website.