Data Centres Australia picks NextDC CEO Craig Scroggie as inaugural chair
Make us a preferred source
Make us a preferred source on Google
The news: NextDC chief executive Craig Scroggie has been named chair of Data Centres Australia, a peak body formed last November aiming to shape Australia’s AI infrastructure.
The context: Representatives of AirTrunk, Amazon Web Services (AWS), CDC Data Centres, Microsoft and NextDC have been appointed as inaugural board directors, providing governance and strategic counsel to the lobby group.
In addition to Scroggie, the appointees include:
- AirTrunk chief development officer Paul Slaven;
- AWS director for data centre planning and deliver in Asia-Pacific Cameron Evans
- CDC chief strategy officer Jack Dan
- Microsoft regional director for land development in Asia-Pacific Karie Bradfield
- Data Centres Australia CEO Belinda Dennett
- Data Centres Australia head of operations and strategy Tim Marshall.
The new board directors represent each of the five companies that backed a two-year informal pilot to raise awareness of the Australian opportunity in data centre development.
The pilot highlighted the need for a peak body representing the needs of the sector and Data Centres Australia was subsequently founded by Belinda Dennett and Tim Marshall.
What they said: “The appointment of our first Data Centres Australia board comes at a pivotal time to realise the national opportunity presented by the global wave of AI infrastructure investment,” said Dennett.
“Our Directors provide us with a robust governance foundation and deep industry experience to ensure we appropriately represent our members’ interests in such a complex and rapidly developing ecosystem.”
Scroggie commented: “Data Centres Australia has been established to provide disciplined leadership across the ecosystem, with management working closely with members and engaging constructively with government, policymakers, the community, and other critical infrastructure stakeholders to support the delivery of digital infrastructure that is secure, resilient, and built to endure responsibly.
“The Board looks forward to supporting Belinda and the management team as they represent the industry and help establish Data Centres Australia as a long-term steward of national and economic capability.”
The source: Data Centres Australia media release
