In a speech given by Mr Lui Tuck Yew at the opening ceremony of SGX Data Centre, a new state-of-art high-performance trading facility that will connect Asian companies to global markets, he urged datacentre operators to go green.
Singapore has a goal of developing infrastructure and initiatives to enhance the financial sector, keeping this in mind Lui first congratulated SGX for the successful completion of this significant milestone, “which aptly manifests the role of infocomm technology, or ICT, as a key enabler to enhance the productivity and competitiveness of our economy, including the financial sector.” He further noted record trading high figures on the SGX. He went on to comment that “With the continued growth of SGX, there is a need to manage the ever increasing trade volumes effectively and efficiently”. He notes that “The Singapore Government is cognizant of the need for us to continually enhance the infocomm infrastructure as well as to implement sound infocomm security and capability development initiatives to strengthen our repute as an international financial centre which the SGX is a key player.”
In order to provide a secure ICT environment the Next Generation Nationwide Broadband Network, or NGNBN, is backed up by the Infocomm Security Masterplan 2.
With the growth of e-services, there has been an increasing number of data centres set up to manage the increase in volume. Lui recognizes that this growth should be sustainable. “To this, the IDA has begun its efforts in sustainable development by seeking to improve the energy efficiency of data centres. Green initiatives jointly developed by IDA, fellow government agencies and the industry, have also been introduced to help businesses reduce costs and reduce environmental impact.”
The first initiative, a joint collaboration between IDA, SPRING Singapore and the IT Standards Committee is the Singapore Standard for Green Data Centres. This is a certifiable standard that helps data centres establish policies, systems and processes to improve energy efficiency. A pilot batch of companies, including Keppel Datahub, the National Library Board and SingTel, have already attained this certification. The second initiative jointly developed by the Building Construction Authority (BCA) and IDA, is the BCA-IDA Green Mark for Data Centres, a rating system to allow data centres to assess and benchmark the energy efficiency and other green features with one other. This will be implemented in a year’s time.
“I am pleased to note that SGX is looking into incorporating green features into their data centre. This is a step in the right direction. I would also like to take this opportunity to encourage all other data centres to incorporate sustainable development initiatives as well as to adopt the green standards in energy efficiency,” said the minister.
