Malaysian Data Centre Alliance launched

• Play key role in transforming Malaysia into data centre hub
• Claims industry poised to record 20% growth in 2013

THE Malaysian Data Centre Alliance (MDCA), a professional alliance for the data centre industry, has been launched to oversee the collective development of data centres in Malaysia.
 
MDCA will lead key initiatives towards growing the industry, and will play an instrumental role in transforming Malaysia into a preferred data centre hub in the region, national ICT custodian the Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) said in a statement.
 
“The data centre sector was identified as a key growth area under the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) and has in the past couple of years shown steady progress,” Ahmad Shabery Cheek, Malaysia’s Minister of Communications and Multimedia, said at the launch in Kuala Lumpur on Oct 28.
 
The ETP aims to make Malaysia a high-income nation by the year 2020.
 
Ahmad Shabery said the half-year revenue for the industry was RM292 million (US$92.7 million), this is set to hit RM562 million (US$178.4 million) revenue for 2013, marking a 20% growth from 2012.
 
“With the formation of MDCA and the initiatives that it will undertake, the data centre industry is set to grow further and contribute a total of RM2.1 billion (US$666 million) to the country’s Gross National Income (GNI) by the year 2020,” he claimed.
 
He added that his ministry would work closely with MDeC, which is “behind the reins” of the MDCA, to meet the target of making Malaysia the preferred destination for data centre investors.
 
In 2010, the Malaysian Government, via the ETP, recognised the data centre industry as a key growth area. This resulted in the development of the Entry Point Project 3 (EPP3) which aims to position Malaysia as a world class data centre hub.
 
“As the advisor and champion of the EPP3 initiative, MDeC’s role is to facilitate growth of the industry,” said MDeC chief operating officer Ng Wan Peng.
 
“We are working with the industry to elevate Malaysia’s standing in the robust global data centre sector. Such initiatives include understanding the needs of the industry through regular forums, creating the awareness of the importance of data centres in a business entity, catalysing the industry through incentives and programmes for data centre professionals,” she added.
 
Other initiatives including providing comprehensive facilities, services and expertise that would create a conducive business environment for the sector, Ng said.
 
“With the establishment of MDCA, this effort will be more streamlined and will attract more Domestic Direct Investments (DDIs) and Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs), which will subsequently contribute to the country’s economic growth,” she argued.
 
MDeC said the combined data centre floor space of all 17 founding members of MDCA is approximately one million sq ft, catering to thousands of customers across diverse business sectors such as telecommunications, information technology, manufacturing, financial services, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as well as the government and public sector.
 
“As the voice for the data centre industry in Malaysia, it is important for MDCA to raise overall awareness with the general public on the roles and importance of data centres, and how they impact lives of the people today,” said MDCA chairman Billy Lee.
 
“MDCA will act as a platform for members to contribute to the establishment of best practices, education programmes, industry leadership initiatives and technical standards,” he added.
 
Lee said that MDCA’s initiatives would centre on five main areas – business development, connectivity and bandwidth, green technology standards, energy, as well as standards and policies.
 
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