Asia-Pacific Data Centre Association Launches White Paper on Unlocking APAC’s Economic and Digital Potential through Data Centres
The Asia-Pacific Data Centre Association (APDCA) today published a white paper highlighting the strategic role of data centres in powering Asia-Pacific’s economic and digital future.
It demonstrates the broad-based benefits that data centres deliver for individuals, businesses and governments alike – from powering everyday online services and enabling digital innovation for companies large and small, to modernising essential public services. Across the economy, data centres drive growth, create high-value jobs, and underpin the adoption of AI and cloud computing.
To capture the region’s economic and digital opportunity, this paper offers a policy roadmap centred on four pillars – Enable, Compete, Uplift, and Anticipate – that together lay the foundation for maximising the impact of data centres as essential infrastructure.
SINGAPORE, 2 September, 2025 – The Asia-Pacific Data Centre Association (APDCA) today released a white paper detailing the critical role of data centres in driving economic development and digitalisation across the region. It spotlights the industry’s importance in powering Asia-Pacific’s fast-growing digital economies and delivering positive multipliers – from advancing hi-tech clusters and AI-led digital innovation, to supporting broad-based economic growth and creating skilled employment.
The white paper also shows how data centres catalyse investment in energy infrastructure and drive the transition to renewable energy. In this way, data centres are emerging as critical enablers of Asia-Pacific’s digital and green economies.
To fully unlock Asia-Pacific’s economic and digital potential, this white paper outlines a strategic roadmap for policymakers to foster data centre growth while advancing their digital ambitions. It sets out recommendations around four pillars:
Enable: Laying the policy and infrastructure foundations for data centre growth
Compete: Creating a globally attractive and competitive environment
Uplift: Leveraging data centres to deliver benefits for individuals, communities and businesses
Anticipate: Future-proofing policy to ride the next wave of digital infrastructure growth
“Data centres are the ‘engine rooms’ silently powering essential digital services and frontier innovation,” said Jeremy Deutsch, Chair of the APDCA. “This paper offers actionable insight for policymakers to support the growth of vital digital infrastructure. The key is decisive, coordinated action and speed – delivering clarity and confidence to data centre operators, investors and other stakeholders.”
The full white paper is now available on the APDCA website.