Ageing data centres hinder S'pore's smart city ambitions

READILY available and accessible computing infrastructure has a "symbiotic relationship" that includes data centre facilities and the development of smart cities. However, older data centres sited in Singapore are siphoning too much energy and are becoming a drag on the government's smart city ambitions, a senior executive at Schneider Electric has cautioned.

Benedict Soh, Schneider Electric Singapore's vice-president for IT business, told BizIT that establishing a smart city requires a seamless integration of technology across six areas: water, mobility and transportation, public services, energy, buildings, and infrastructure.

Data centres are key to ensuring each of these functions properly and can be seamlessly integrated - which is why they are critical to the successful development of smart cities, he noted.