Futuristic Cloud Data Centers: Bolstering India's Digital Future

The Cloud & Data Centre India 2024 10th Annual Conference was organized by Bharat Exhibitions on the 14th of November, 2024, at The LaLiT, New Delhi. Where innovation met opportunity in the heart of India's digital revolution at an event for a transformative gathering that brought together most influential players in the data infrastructure ecosystem. From leading banks and private equity firms to cutting-edge cloud service providers and construction experts, the event united the entire value chain under one roof. From exploring actionable insights, forging strategic partnerships, and driving growth in India's dynamic data landscape, with unparalleled networking opportunities and thought-provoking discussions, this event placed itself as the perfect gateway to success in the thriving digital economy of the country. The flagship summit is highly prominent that annually brings together industry experts, stakeholders, policymakers, technology providers, and business leaders to discuss and explore the latest trends, developments, challenges, and opportunities related to data centres, its deployment and its impact on various sectors. This edition was no different! Plus, it was the perfect platform to gain the insights and guidance to create an effective pathway to the future and network with peers. In today's data-driven business landscape, data centers enable businesses to manage, store, and analyze their data efficiently and securely. Data centres fulfil a fundamental role in supporting many daily digital activities, providing a range of essential services to organizations of varying sizes and from differing sectors. This growth in data is further stimulated by the adoption of emerging technologies such as quantum computing, artificial intelligence, the internet of things etc. 

Anil Tandan, BIF, Bishakha Bhattacharya, AWS, Prashant Oberoi, Norden, Atul Sinha, DDG (BTU), DoT, Arvind Kumar, DG, STPI, S.N. Gupta, BIF, Shashi Dharan, Bharat Exhibitions

After the ceremonial lighting of the lamp, Mr Shashi Dharan, MD, Bharat Exhibitions in his welcome speech said, “India’s data centre market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 8%, reaching US$ 8B by 2025. This is indeed a huge growth for India. The key drivers behind this growth are the increased mobile data consumption, rise of Industry 4.0 tech, rapid adoption of 5G and IOT solutions. Indian government’s role on the Make In India and Data Center Incentivization Scheme are also boosting the data centre scenario in India. Cities like Mumbai, Delhi, NCR and Bengaluru have become data center hubs in recent past, accounting for over 55% of the country’s capacity.” 

Special Guest of Honour, Shri Arvind Kumar, Director General, Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) was heard quoting, “Digital economy is going to be double soon. To achive the target set by Govt of India is soon going to be a reality in our country. AI, ML in the cloud, flexibility and scalability, multi-cloud, interoperability and integration are pivotal pillars on which data center business and deployment are based upon. AI integration with cloud, edge computing have potential to create jobs”. He also added, that the new trend of multi-cloud is emerging where everything has to become interoperable for its success. Sinha also added that with increasing demand for digital services, the collective focus on expanding and streamlining data centers is more critical now. “Big data analytics are driving unprecedented demand for data centers in India now”, he stressed upon. 

Guest of Honour, Shri Atul Sinha, DDG (BTU), Department of Telecommunications, Govt. of India, “India’s digital journey has nothing been short of extra ordinary. We are emerging as a digital economy in fast paced manner. This conference today has great significance in building the digital seocity we all aspire for. Data centres are like backbone for our digital economy. Every aspect of our lives now is dependent on data centers to a great extent. 1 trillion dollar is the number we all are looking for. Data security, skill gap are major hurdles we need to overcome. We can make great strides in making India digitally secure and self reliant. India has all the potential to become a data center hub.”

Dr S. N Gupta, Broadband India Forum, in his Introductory Address said, “Hail Govt’s aim to make India a digitally empowered society. Internet penetration is the highest. India will soon become a major data center hub.”

Mr. Prashant Oberoi, Director, India & SAARC, Norden Communication in his Keynote Address stated, “We have exponential growth today in data centres. Digital payment and 5G proliferation will intensify this growth in the days to come. Localization of data centres is a major concern in India. We need to see all the emerging trends and see how the progress is made a successful one.”

Ms. Bishakha Bhattacharya, Head - of Public Policy, AWS India & South Asia in her Industry Address said, “One region for one data center is our motto. We are more than 130k partners around the world. Our commitment is long-term; we have multiple clusters of data centres. Lot of innovations is happening. Finally application analytics is the area where we specialize upon. Certifying standards is also an area where our focus lies in priority. Amazing development in mathematics, where AI is being collaborated with multiple sectors.” 

Brig. Anil Tandan, Director General, of Broadband India Forum delivered the Vote of Thanks during the Summit, where he thanked all the dignitaries present for expressing their valuable inputs on the data center scenario within the country and also worldwide. 

The Summit was spread across 4 Sessions including two Technical Sessions and concluding with a Panel Discussion Shri Vivek Dua, Sr. General Manager (Corporate Office), Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, Mr. Sumit Agarwal, Global Manager - Presales, Norden Communication, Mr. Suresh E. Bulusu, Director Pre Sales, Astrikos.AI, Mr. Prem Rodrigues, Vice President of Sales & Marketing, IMEA, Siemon, Mr. Saurabh Agarwal, CEO, TechBridge, Mr. Kirtikar Ojha, Head of Government Sales, L&T Data Centre & Cloud Services, Mr. Harkaran Singh Sachdev, Founder & CEO, Ekaga Group, Mr. Diwakar Jaiswal, Joint Director, Software Technology Parks of India, Mr. Mayuresh Shingore, Lead, Connected Business, Digital Blanket, Dr. Debabrata Nayak, Director, PwC India, Mr. A.S. Pandey, GM (IT) & CISO, Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd., Shri Manoj Tandon, Director – Projects, Operations & Maintenance, RailTel, Mr. Amit Sehgal, Senior Vice President, Technology Head, HDFC Bank, Shri Subhash Chandra Kesarwani, Director (Tx and NGS), NTIPRIT, Mr. Prashant Oberoi, Director, India & SAARC, Norden Communication and Mr. Satyanarayana Reddy Erla, Technical Manager, India & SAARC, Siemon were some of the other eminent speakers during the sessions. 

Next-Generation Datacenters: Cloud Transformation Aligned with Emerging Business Models, Cybersecurity in Cloud & Datacentres: Mitigating Risks in a Hyperconnected World, The Evolution of Data Centres in the Age of AI and Automation were the pertinent topics discussed during the technical sessions. 

The summit was partnered and supported by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Norden Communication, AWS, VP Group, Astrikos.Ai, Siemon, TechBridge Consultancy Services, Ananta STPI Cloud Services, Ekaga Group, L&T-Cloudfiniti, Techspire Services, Communications Today, Digital Infrastructure Providers Association and Broadband India Forum.