DATA CENTER. The country's strong push for digitalization and a huge number of young workers, among others, make officials of a regional data center player optimistic of their operations in the Philippines. Digital Edge chief product officer Jonathan Chou said they consider regional players as their competitors, thus the goal to provide world-class services to Filipino clients. (Photo by Joann Villanueva) MANILA - Officials of the country's largest carrier-neutral and regional data center in the country are already studying options for a second site ahead of the opening of a joint venture firm Narra 1's first center on Tuesday. In a briefing on Monday, Digital Edge chief product officer Jonathan Chou said they aim to provide a service that will compete with data centers overseas such as those in Singapore, Hong Kong and the United States. Chou said they consider regional players and not local counterparts as their competitors, thus the aim to "really work hard" to ensure their services meet the needs of their clients. The USD100-joint venture firm between regional player Digital Edge (Singapore) Holdings Pte. Ltd. and local technology and real estate company Threadborne Group, target to provide world-class data center services with the likes of Amazon through its 10-megawatt (MW) center at the Laguna Technopark in Binan. The center offers 2,200 cabinets for colocation site for technology-related firms. Chou said the firm aims to be a carbon-neutral data center by 2030, to source at least 50 percent of power from renewable energy by 2025, and to achieve to have a peak power usage effectiveness (PUE) of 1.3 or less, among others. "We have firm conviction on the size and the potential of the market in the Philippines. So, we will continue to invest as long as the growth is there," he said. Chou said they still do not have specific details for the second site but he described "it will be bigger" than their first branch and will materialize within five years. Digital Edge Philippines Counter Manager Victor Barrios said they aim to be the "shining gold standard" for the industry for being the first regional data center in the country. Barrios said the digital transformation in the country is key in their operations as more companies and the government tap technology to run their daily operations, especially since the pandemic hit. He identified the young population, which is second in South East Asia; the Philippines' ranking as the third in the world in terms of daily time spent on the internet; the push for digitalization among enterprises; government support towards digital infrastructure initiatives; and the forecasts for a 27-percent growth of the data center market in the next five years as among the drivers of their optimism. "We feel that we're well-positioned to take advantage of that (digitalization push)," he added. (PNA) }