Power, partnerships, progress: Top 5 takeaways from Datacloud Global Congress 2026

Datacloud Global Congress sent a strong message this year for all those who attended – that the data centre industry is growing and evolving faster than ever before, and those working at the forefront of the industry must change with it.

Capacity spotlights five of the most mission-critical themes from Cannes this year.

Pace has never been faster

The rate of which innovation is happening across the digital infrastructure sector is only increasing. Explosive growth can be attributed to the demands of AI and cloud computing, as businesses continue to adopt these technologies.

Those attending Cannes said keeping pace was critical to overall success for their business. For LiquidStack and Trane Technologies, for example, debuting the Gigamodular CDU will help them to scale their approach in the liquid cooling space, as rack densities continue to scale.

“Everything is betting bigger,” Trane Technologies’ president of data centres, Oakley Roberts, told Capacity at the event. “We’re about to get to a larger capacity of cooling and a smaller footprint [with Gigamodular].”

Ensuring power supply is critical

As governments and businesses seek to invest further into the technology to scale economic growth, data centres remain central to these efforts, particularly as companies seek to build AI Factories.

With power availability already being in high demand worldwide, ensuring a strong supply without relying too much on local grids is essential to ensure resiliency and to avoid price hikes.

Companies like Schneider Electric took care to address this in Cannes last week, showcasing how it planned to continue expanding its AI infrastructure ecosystem. Its AI-ready solutions portfolio, highlighted at the event, demonstrated how organisations can deploy AI-ready infrastructure responsibly.

“Collaboration across the ecosystem is enabling the next generation of AI factories and helping organisations build scalable, resilient and sustainable infrastructure, built for the AI era,” Marc Garner, global president, cloud and service provider segment at Schneider Electric, explained ahead of the event.

Partnerships are key

Something that continues to come up in the data centre industry is the importance of collaboration across the sector, with plenty of partnerships having been introduced to drive forward progress.

These partnerships happen across enterprises, local authorities and governments in order to ensure long-term success across the industry and satisfy customer demand.

CEO and co-founder of OctaiPipe, Dr Eric Topham, shared his insights into the importance of partnerships to fuel innovation in an interview with Capacity at the event. The full video interview will be coming soon on our website.

You can find all of our exclusive video interviews on our website HERE.

Keeping the community front and centre

One part of digital transformation is making sure the communities in which data centres operate is supported and consulted throughout the construction and operation process. According to industry leaders at Datacloud, ensuring education and understanding within communities is becoming more of a priority.

Microsoft’s Noelle Walsh shared a local example during the opening keynote at Datacloud, as the technology giant recently celebrated 20 years at its data centre in Washington state, US.

“During those 20 years, thousands of jobs were created during construction, and we’ve grown to about 400 direct employees whose salaries are more than the local retail average,” she explained during the keynote. “For every employee we have, two additional jobs have been created in the broader community. Last year, we contributed about 15% of the local property tax – enough to fund a new high school and hospital projects.”

Walsh, alongside Meta’s Rachel Peterson, explained how digital transformation is a human issue, acknowledging every decision their companies make impacts the community they are operating in.

“We don’t tell these positive stories enough,” Walsh added. “It’s where we don’t exist that people develop assumptions about how we operate.

“Keeping [our] commitments – and then spreading the word – is important.”

Looking behind the hype

Also speaking during the opening keynote at the event, Peterson added how, as the industry continues to evolve, it is important that industry leaders look ‘beyond’ the hype to build long-term resiliency and benefit both innovation and the locations where they operate.

To do this, she explained how it’s important to consider the big picture about what technologies you invest in and energy storage.

“In 2025, we had over 10 gigawatts invested in renewable energy and over seven gigawatts in nuclear energy – much of which is already on track to be delivered,” she added. “We recently announced an investment in space-based solar … we’re developing new cooling technology that minimises water usage altogether.”

Considering long-term impact is necessary for the greater good of the communities around where data centre companies operate, she explained.

“We want to ensure we’re restoring more water than we consume, which requires a longer-term portfolio view,” she said. “It’s not going to be any one solution – it’s going to be all of it combined.”

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