Abu Dhabi event will bring together government ministries, hyperscalers and data centre operators as the region’s IT capacity expands at nearly 25% annually.
The Middle East’s accelerating investment in artificial intelligence, cloud computing and digital infrastructure is creating fresh demand for data centre capacity, energy-efficient cooling and resilient power systems. Against this backdrop, Data Center World will make its regional debut in Abu Dhabi on 17–18 November 2026, bringing global data centre expertise to one of the world’s fastest-growing digital infrastructure markets.
Organised by inD, an Informa/DWTC company, Data Center World Middle East will take place at Dusit Thani Abu Dhabi. The event will bring together the UAE Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, the Ministry of Investment, data centre operators Khazna Data Centers and Core42, cooling specialist Tabreed, hyperscalers AWS, Google and Oracle, and AI computing leader NVIDIA.
“Every megawatt saved in cooling is a megawatt of compute the grid does not have to build for.” — Eng. Mozah Alnuaimi, Chief AI Officer, UAE Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure
The timing reflects the scale of the region’s infrastructure expansion. Omdia estimates that the Middle East added 1GW of new data centre IT capacity in 2025, with installed IT capacity growing at an annual compound rate of almost 25%. This expansion is being driven by rising AI workloads, cloud adoption and increasing demand for digital services.
However, scaling capacity is also intensifying pressure on power grids, cooling systems and water resources. The UAE Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure and Khazna Data Centers have launched a pilot aimed at reducing energy consumption in data centres and district cooling systems, with the technology expected to cut cooling-related energy use by up to 40%.
Eng. Mozah Alnuaimi, Chief AI Officer, UAE Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, highlighted the need to make efficiency central to infrastructure planning. She said the ministry was examining liquid cooling, closed-loop systems and clear energy-intensity requirements, positioning data centres as an opportunity to improve national efficiency rather than simply adding to electricity demand.
The UAE is pursuing an ambitious digital economy agenda, targeting an increase in the sector’s contribution to GDP from 9.7% to 19.4% within a decade. Abu Dhabi’s AED 13 billion government digital strategy aims to move government services towards sovereign cloud infrastructure and an AI-native operating model by 2027. Meanwhile, Khazna is developing the 1GW Stargate UAE AI infrastructure cluster with partners including OpenAI, Oracle, NVIDIA, Cisco and SoftBank.
Power availability and grid stability will be another major theme. Sean James, Distinguished Engineer – Energy Systems at NVIDIA, pointed to the challenges posed by AI workloads, which can create rapid fluctuations in electricity demand. He argued that on-site energy storage and intelligent controls could help data centres manage these fluctuations while providing grid support.
The two-day programme will cover investment opportunities across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Bahrain, alongside technical sessions on AI data hall design, cooling and electrical infrastructure for high-density workloads. Workshops will also address the challenges of operating data centres in temperatures reaching 50°C.
“Data Center World goes where the industry is building, and the Gulf is now one of its most important growth markets,” said Tara Gibb, Senior Event Director for Data Center World. She said the programme would connect operators, hyperscalers and policymakers while offering technical workshops focused on practical infrastructure challenges.
Midea Building Technologies is the headline sponsor, with Enover and E-kerno as Gold Sponsors and Endress+Hauser as Silver Sponsor.
The event’s debut signals the growing importance of the Gulf in the global data centre market. As AI infrastructure investment accelerates, the region’s ability to balance computing capacity with power availability, cooling efficiency and sustainable resource use will increasingly determine how quickly its digital ambitions can be realised.
Registration and the full agenda are available at Data Center World Middle East.
