DCD>Connect | London Live Stream

Stream all the major talks & debates happening at DCD>Connect | London

Main Stage - September 18 Agenda

  • DCD>Major Panel: From net-zero pledges to practice - Where does the industry go from here?

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    Speakers
    Colin Wyatt, Deerns
    Dame Dawn Childs, Pure Data Centres Group
    Michael Winterson, The European Data Centre Association (EUDCA)
    Dan Loosemore, DatacenterDynamics
    Fredrick Royan, Frost & Sullivan

    Countless operators have made ambitious public sustainability pledges, but behind closed doors, many industry professionals lack confidence that these targets will be met, leaving the discourse on sustainability at a crucial juncture.

    While strides have been made to enhance reporting standards, adopt renewable energy sources, and advance energy-efficient technologies, questions persist about the effectiveness and urgency of current industry sustainability strategies. Is it time to reassess and recalibrate how we build and operate data centers for a sustainable future? What should the priorities be going forwards?

  • DCD>Major Panel: Future-proofing the unknown - Can the industry effectively design & build data centers for an AI-driven future?

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    Speakers
    Sarah Davey, Equinix
    Emma Brookes, DatacenterDynamics
    Matthew Wilkins, Colt Data Centre Services
    Steven Campbell-Ferguson, NTT Global Data Centers
    Jamie Hughes, Equans Data Centers

    While AI has dominated headlines, the real-world impact of AI workloads on the data center industry is still largely unknown. How can we build at scale & speed to accommodate a future that we don’t fully understand and is as yet undefined?

    Flexibility must now be factored into every phase of data center design, procurement and provisioning to navigate this uncharted territory. In this panel, experts will dissect the latest strategies for future-proof design & build and analyze the impact of AI on construction in EMEA and beyond.

  • DCD>Major Panel: Breaking down silos and managing risk - Ensuring data center supply chain resilience

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    Speakers
    David Waldron, Kirby Group Engineering
    Gabriella Gillett-Perez, DatacenterDynamics
    Marynet Bassily, MissionProcure | Grezya Partner
    Mark O'Neill, Microsoft
    Dave Hyatt, Iron Mountain Data Centers

    The resilience of data center operations hinges on the robustness of its supply chain. However, recent global disruptions have laid bare vulnerabilities within this intricate network and created silos, prompting critical reflection on how to overcome its challenges.

    Dependency on single suppliers, geopolitical challenges, transportation bottlenecks, and the severe talent shortage means that constrained supply chains have become the new norm. So how is the industry adapting and learning to ensure the future of the industry?

  • DCD>Major Panel: Powering HPC workloads - Overcoming power constraints in the region

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    Speakers
    Alex Ivanov, AtkinsRealis
    Henry Daunert, AQ Compute
    Jason Lovell, Eversheds Sutherland
    Alex Dickins, DatacenterDynamics
    Chris Hollis-Thompson, UK Power Distribution

    High-performance computing (HPC) workloads are characterized by their intensive computational demands, pushing the boundaries of processing power and data throughput. However, powering HPC infrastructure faces significant challenges due to constraints on energy availability, grid capacity, and sustainability.

    This panel will look at the unique power challenges faced by data center facilities including limited grid capacity, fluctuating energy availability, and environmental regulations and how renewable energy sources, energy storage systems and many more might be the solution to the problem.

  • DCD>Major Panel: Future-proofing and flexibility in cooling design

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    Speakers
    Peter Liddle, Cundall
    Ian Francis, Digital Realty
    Dan Loosemore, DatacenterDynamics
    Danielle Rossi, Trane

    As data center operators strive to optimize cooling systems for efficiency, flexibility has emerged as a crucial design consideration. The importance of flexibility in accommodating evolving IT loads, changing environmental conditions, and emerging cooling technologies has never been more significant, particularly as the growth in AI drives further demands on facilities and their cooling systems. However, with this need to integrate multiple systems also comes challenges including higher installation and maintenance costs, increased risk of system failures, etc. With all this in mind, how are companies ensuring that they implement the best cooling strategies?

    This panel will explore the emerging cooling technologies on the horizon, the differences in cooling strategies for different applications and how companies are preparing for the future to ensure that their cooling meets the demands of future requirements.

  • DCD>Major Panel: Data center resilience and operations in the age of AI

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    Speakers
    Dr. Stuart Redshaw, EkkoSense
    George Rockett
    Mike Harrington, JLL
    Simon Goldthorpe, Equinix

    The rapid evolution of AI technologies presents unprecedented opportunities for enhancing the efficiency, reliability, and sustainability of data center operations. AI applications have the promise to potentially transform data center operations, through enhanced predictive maintenance, energy management, workload optimization, fault detection, and adaptive cooling. Are we now seeing the impact of AI-driven insights and automation in enabling data center operators to proactively identify and address performance bottlenecks, minimize downtime, and maximize resource utilization?

    With a focus on best practices, this panel will explore how we can use AI to ensure the efficient running of data centers from increasing operational optimization to keeping data safe within facilities