Sustainability Dominates The Conversation At Bangalore CDC

Over 650 delegates thronged W.Media’s Bangalore Cloud and Datacenter Convention this year, where industry experts made insightful presentations about the latest innovations and also engaged in a variety of power-packed panel discussions. Dominating the conversations in all sessions were topics like commitment to sustainability, and initiatives pertaining improving energy efficiency.

In the very first power panel discussion, moderated by Vinish Bawa (Partner and Telecom Sector leader, PwC India), panelists had come together to discuss: “How are data center investment trends changing and how will this impact Bangalore?” Panelists included data center industry heavyweights like Surajit Chatterjee (Managing Director, CapitaLand Investment, Data Centre Group), CB Velayuthan (Chief Executive Officer, Digital Connexion) and Vinod Javur (COO, Digital Edge DC), as well as green-building expert Syed Mohamed Beary (Founder & Chairman, Bearys Group, Chairman, IGBC Bangalore Chapter) and government representative Dr. E.V. Ramana Reddy, IAS (Chairman,
Karnataka Skill Development Authority). But the conversation soon turned towards the need to build an ecosystem geared towards ensuring availability of sustainable energy sources for data centers.

Chatterjee shed light on how foreign investors in India’s data center market were curious about sustainability plans for potential projects, saying, “Their pertinent question is: what’s your plan for ESG? What’s you plan for Sustainability?” Beary gave an example of how clients are driving the demand for sustainable data centers, saying, “A few weeks ago a client who wants to develop a data center park approached us, but with the condition that required amount of renewable energy would be available.” Javur also emphasised the need for maintaining energy efficiency saying, “Renewable energy is one thing, we as operators also have the responsibility to design their infrastructure in a way that helps bring down PUE (Power Usage Efficiency).” This was when Dr. Reddy reminded everyone, “Sustainability isn’t just about energy efficiency. It also involves water usage, solid waste management and many other things.”

The subject of sustainability was also discussed in greater detail during a panel discussion of the topic: “How important is Scope 3 to Indian data centers?” This panel was moderated by Mamatha G (Associate Director, Space Matrix) and panelists included Vijaya Kumar C K (Managing Director, EPG Consultants Pvt Ltd), R. Balakrishnan (VP and Head MEP Design, Larsen and Toubro - Buildings and Factory Division), and V Jacob G (Director - Facilities and Procurement, JCPenney Bangalore).

There was yet another panel discussion on a similar subject: “How will the process of data center design and build be impacted by digital technologies and sustainable practices?” This was moderated by Aneelkumar Savalagi (Global IT Infrastructure Engineering & Operations Leader, GCC, India, Giant Eagle) and panelists included environmental expert Rajat Srivastav (Environmental Operations Lead-India, JACOBS), Selvam K (Vice President – ICT, Bangalore International Airport Ltd), and Satish Kumar Dwibhashi (SVP & CISO, KreditBee).

Other exciting topics like Artificial Intelligence (AI), future of on prem and colocation facilities, data center performance metrics, as well as collaboration between data centers, telecoms, IT, enterprise, Government and other stakeholder sectors to deliver Bangalore’s digital future. The day long Bangalore Cloud and Datacenter Convention was held at Embassy ONE at the Four Seasons Hotel on July 26, and the plenary hall was packed with delegates including C-level executives, digital infrastructure professionals including architects, engineers and consultants (AECs), key buyers, decision makers, data center owners and operators.