View the 2025 Winners

Judging Process Explained

ENTRIES HAVE NOW CLOSED

SHORTLIST ANNOUNCED: November

Following the shortlist announcement, judges will reconvene to determine the ultimate category winner.

All finalists will be invited to attend the Awards ceremony in London, where the winner will be announced.

WINNERS REVEALED: December 10th

The winner will be revealed at the in-person ceremony at Grosvenor House, London. The ceremony will also be streamed live on datacenterdynamics.com.

Meet our esteemed judges for 2025...

Dame Dawn Childs

Chief Executive Officer, Pure Data Centres Group

Dame Dawn Childs - Headshot

Dame Dawn Childs

Chief Executive Officer, Pure Data Centres Group

Dawn is an accomplished engineer and operator who was honoured with a Fellowship from the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2020. Prior to joining Pure her career spanned several engineering sectors and industries including UK Change Director for National Grid across both the gas and electricity transmission businesses; Group Engineering Director for Merlin Entertainments with responsibility for engineering delivery, standards, practices and processes across the worldwide portfolio of more than 130 theme parks, resorts and attractions; Head of Engineering at Gatwick Airport covering the infrastructure and technical services at the airport; and over 20 years as an Engineering Officer in the Royal Air Force where she held various positions including Head of Engineering at RAF Waddington looking after the Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance aircraft fleets and Deputy Chief Engineer for the Air Transport and Air to Air Refuelling aircraft fleets.

She has a track record of developing women in her organisation as well as working to bring more women and girls into engineering and has been the President of the Women’s Engineering Society since 2018.

Dawn now leads the operational arm of Pure Data Centres Group ensuring the delivery of resilient 24/7 operations globally.

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Tilly Gilbert

Director, Consulting, STL Partners

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Tilly Gilbert

Director, Consulting, STL Partners

Tilly Gilbert is a Principal Consultant at STL Partners, specialising in edge computing, AI and automation. Tilly has been involved with several research programmes focused on edge computing including with a Tier-one operator and an edge computing start up. She has co-authored the report “What edge developers want from telcos now”. In addition, Tilly has worked on projects including telco SMB strategy, customer experience, AI and blockchain. She has a BA in English Literature and Language from Oxford University and an MA in English Literature from the University of Pennsylvania.

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Guillermo Cipolla

Fundador, Hyper DC Consulting

guillermo cipolla

Guillermo Cipolla

Fundador, Hyper DC Consulting

I have over 28 years of solid experience in the technology industry, with a proven track record of success in leading and managing large-scale projects, as well as in cost optimization and customer service improvement. For the past 18 years, I have specialized in the planning, implementation, and administration of data centers for leading market companies, including a notable 25-year career at IBM. With an MBA from Torcuato Di Tella University, for the last 3 years I was leading the business development for Scala Data Centers in the Latin American region. In 2024 I have founded Hyper DC Consulting Company.

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Michel Chartier

Director Data Center Canada, WSP

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Michel Chartier

Director Data Center Canada, WSP

One of Canada’s leading consultants for critical computer centers, Michel Chartier is the first Engineer in Quebec to receive Uptime’s Institute Accredited Tier Designer Certification. He has shared his knowledge with the Canadian engineering community for several years as a speaker at different conferences and through TV interviews.  

He anually attends Uptime Institute, 7x24 Exchange, Data Center Dynamics (Toronto, New York and other cities) and Gartner symposiums for which he has participated as a guest speaker on a number of occasions.

Mr. Chartier is recognized as an expert in the field of critical data centers. Over the years, he has ensured a technological watch that has allowed many of his customers to take advantage of the latest technology and methods. At the forefront of pre-established concepts, Mr. Chartier has developed electrical and mechanical power supply topologies that allow a concurrent maintenance at all levels. His career has brought him to participate in the design and implementation as a consultant or designer of over 4 million square feet of computer rooms in three continents, adding up to more than 1 billion dollars in capitalisation expenses. He has completed over one hundred telecommunication room and/or data center audits for several companies such as CGI, Bell Canada, Tata Communications (a.k.a. Teleglobe), Standard Life, Mohawk Internet Technologies, Q9, Rogers, etc. in both English and French.

From the beginning (pre-project phase), Mr. Chartier provides valuable insight for matching customers’ needs with the best possible electromechanical topology or technology, always in compliance with the Uptime Institute criteria for Tier II or above and TIA-942. Seven of Mr. Chartier’s designs are Uptime Certified in either design or construction.

For over 25 years he has also practiced electrical engineering in the critical power area. He has built a solid reputation with major clients through his professionalism and the creativeness of the solutions he presents.

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Rowan Peck

Director, Mission Critical Systems

Rowan

Rowan Peck

Director, Mission Critical Systems

Rowan has over 35 years experience in planning, design, implementation, commissioning, and lifecycle performance management of critical facilities. Rowan started working in Data Centres as a Facility Manager for a multi-national corporate DC, and migrated that facility between Sydney and new premises in Melbourne, before settling into roles to deliver Data Centres to clients around the world, with a focus in Australia, New Zealand, and SE Asia.

He now has over 460,000m2 new build and extensions plus power system upgrades of over 230,000m2 of live Data Centres to his name, for major clients including Equinix, DCI, IBM, Global Switch, NEXTDC, Woolworths, Optus, AAPT, Unisys, Metronode, NextGen, and PacNET.

Rowan is an Uptime ATD Professional, CPEng (Aus), and licensed Electrician. He is actively involved with various professional organisations including the Open Compute Project, IEC, and Standards Australia.

Rowan is based in Canberra Australia.

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Joe Hurman

Principal Consultant, STL Partners

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Joe Hurman

Principal Consultant, STL Partners

Joe is a Principal Consultant at STL Partners, with a background in technology strategy & implementation, spanning infrastructure, platforms and software. Since joining STL Partners, he has led strategic engagements with digital infrastructure firms ranging from corporate strategy for a telecoms holdco through to market analysis of data centre construction and connectivity. Joe leads STL's data centre practice and holds a BA in Economics from Durham University.

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Dr Tomas Rahkonen

Research Director Sustainability, Europe, Uptime Institute

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Dr Tomas Rahkonen

Research Director Sustainability, Europe, Uptime Institute

Rahkonen's focus is on distributed data centers. He has over 25 years of experience from global positions in telecommunications, mobile communications, and the data center industry, most recently serving over 10 years as CTO of Flexenclosure where he managed the design and delivery of prefab data centers to four continents. Rahkonen holds a MSc in Computer Science specializing in AI/Neural Networks, and a PhD in Electrical Engineering.

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Tor Björn Minde

Director, Head of ICE Datacenter Unit, RISE Research Institutes of Sweden

Tor Björn

Tor Björn Minde

Director, Head of ICE Datacenter Unit, RISE Research Institutes of Sweden

Tor Björn is currently Director of RISE ICE Datacenter, an industry research

group established in Luleå north Sweden, focusing on data center technologies. He was head of research strategies at Ericsson Research with 35 years experience at Ericsson. He also holds an adjunct professorship at Lulea University of Technology in signal processing. Lately his main focus has been on large-scale cloud, edge and AI & big data infrastructures. Tor Björn was one of the founders of the Swedish Datacenter Industry Association. He was awarded Top30 global thought leaders in edge computing and IM100 digital infrastructure leaders. He is also on the board of IVA North, the north chapter of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences.

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Patricia Rodríguez Henríquez

Patricia Rodríguez Henríquez

Global VP, Operations Excellence, Coravel

Nikki Blake

Nikki Blake

Secretary General, African Data Center Association

Dr Rabih Bashroush

Dr Rabih Bashroush

CEO & Executive Director, lta.

Andrés Grignola

Head of Data Center Infrastructure Development Unit, CSI ingenieros

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Andrés Grignola

Head of Data Center Infrastructure Development Unit, CSI ingenieros

Andrés Grignola is an Electrical Engineer, graduated from the Universidad de la República Oriental del Uruguay (UdelaR), with an MBA and more than a decade of experience in the design, construction management, and commissioning of mission-critical infrastructure, especially Data Centers.

He is an Accredited Tier Specialist (ATS) certified by Uptime Institute and serves as Head / Electrical Discipline Leader at CSI Global, combining a solid technical foundation with a comprehensive vision of the facility lifecycle.

He has been responsible for energy projects for Data Centers at ANTEL and is the Director of Estudio AG, a firm specializing in Data Center design consultancy with an emphasis on energy efficiency, reliability, and resilience.

Among the most prominent projects in which he has participated is the “Ing. José Luis Massera” Data Center, recognized with two awards and a mention at the DCD Awards Latam 2016, in addition to the National Energy Efficiency Award 2016 in Uruguay, as well as hyperscale projects in the region.

In the academic and professional training field, Andrés is an instructor at DCD>Academy, where he teaches courses such as Data Center Design Awareness and Power Professional, actively contributing to the development of specialized talent in critical infrastructure in Latin America.

His approach combines solid technical training and practical experience in mission-critical projects, with a focus on efficiency, industry best practices, and the operational performance of the infrastructure.

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Jhon Zavala

Data Center & Digital Infrastructure Leader | DCD Global Awards Judge | DCD Academy Instructor | Uptime ATD/ATS | Mission-Critical & Cloud Infrastructure, BCP - Banco de Crédito del Perú

jhon zavala

Jhon Zavala

Data Center & Digital Infrastructure Leader | DCD Global Awards Judge | DCD Academy Instructor | Uptime ATD/ATS | Mission-Critical & Cloud Infrastructure, BCP - Banco de Crédito del Perú

Passionate about digital infrastructure and its impact on business resilience, sustainability, and innovation, Jhon Zavala brings more than 25 years of experience across data center design, construction, commissioning, operations, cloud infrastructure, and mission-critical environments.

Throughout his career, he has led multidisciplinary initiatives spanning data center modernization, private cloud transformation, infrastructure operations, business continuity, and energy efficiency programs. His experience combines strategic leadership with hands-on technical expertise across electrical, mechanical, IT, and operational domains.

Jhon has participated in the design, construction, commissioning, and operation of mission-critical facilities and has managed large-scale infrastructure programs with investments exceeding USD 50 million. His professional background includes data centers, cloud platforms, operating systems, networking, structured cabling, power systems, cooling systems, fire protection, security, and infrastructure governance.

He currently serves as Chapter Leader for Private Cloud Infrastructure at Banco de Crédito del Perú (BCP), one of Latin America’s leading financial institutions, where he is responsible for the stability, efficiency, security, and evolution of critical infrastructure platforms supporting essential business services.

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Vivian Wong

Vivian Wong

Senior Analyst, Southeast Asia, DC Byte

Paul Lipscombe

Telecoms Editor, DatacenterDynamics

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Paul Lipscombe

Telecoms Editor, DatacenterDynamics

Paul Lipscombe is DCD's Telecoms Editor. He was previously the news editor at Mobile News. Regular beats: 5G, telecoms, operators, telecoms infrastructure, vendors, etc.

Send tips and story ideas: [email protected]

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Jamie Hughes

Technical Director, Equans Data Centers

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Jamie Hughes

Technical Director, Equans Data Centers

Driving sustainability and powering AI development, Jamie Hughes, Technical Director at Equans Data Centers, partners with hyperscale and colocation clients to deliver high-performance, low-carbon facilities across Europe.

Leveraging his extensive experience in the technical delivery of the data centre infrastructure, Jamie provides strategic technical leadership to support customers in an era of rapid digital and AI-driven transformation.

Working closely with our experts and supply chain partners throughout the full project lifecycle—bid, design, execution, and commissioning—he ensures seamless integration of technical interfaces. A strong advocate for innovation, Jamie promotes design to enable AI deployment and operational strategies that enhance resilience, performance, and efficiency. At the same time, he drives the adoption of low-carbon, energy-efficient solutions, reflecting our mission to decarbonise and strengthen the sustainability credentials of the global data centre sector.

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Jorge Silva

Jorge Silva

Director General, Data Evolution

Cyre Mercedes Quiñones

CEO, Infrastructure Masons

Cyre_Quinones

Cyre Mercedes Quiñones

CEO, Infrastructure Masons

A proven executive and community builder, Quiñones brings more than 15 years of experience leading global businesses and partnering with senior leaders across the technology and infrastructure ecosystem to her role.

Prior to becoming CEO of iMasons, Quiñones held leadership positions at Schneider Electric, where she oversaw the strategic direction and operations of a $300M global business. Her career has consistently focused on translating high-level vision into operational execution, balancing growth with purpose at scale. As CEO, she will guide iMasons into its next chapter by focusing efforts on key industry challenges of time to power, industry perception, people resource shortages, industry decarbonization efforts to protect the planet and critical policy work to deliver on the largest growth demands in the history of digital infrastructure.

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Alice Berresford

Alice Berresford

Head of Sales - Europe, Anord Mardix

Yash Issur

CEO, Nxtra by Airtel Africa

Yash Isssur - Nxtra by Airtel Africa CEO

Yash Issur

CEO, Nxtra by Airtel Africa

Yash is a Data Center Professional with over 14 Years of experience managing, building, operating, divesting and investing in Data Centers globally. He has been the trendsetter in building the first Data Center in many emerging markets and developed the Data Center resources expertise from the ground up there. He is currently the CEO of the Data Center Division at Nxtra by Airtel Africa . Prior to this he was the leader for Data Center Procurement, Portfolio and Risks at Amazon Web Services.

Yash has a Masters in Computer security and Forensics, a Masters in Business Administration and is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional, a Certified Information Security Manager and a Certified Data Center Management Professional. He is also part of the member of the Business Continuity institute and a Fellow of the British Computer Society.

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Dave Wildman

Global Datacenters, Infrastructure & Workplace Sustainability, Bloomberg

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Dave Wildman

Global Datacenters, Infrastructure & Workplace Sustainability, Bloomberg

Dave leads Bloomberg's Global Facilities, Infrastructure and Sustainability teams - with an acute focus on the ‘team’ to deliver service and resiliency, efficiently, in theirr hyper-critical, premier service environments. The environments span their award winning workplaces and data centers.

Dave has over 20 years experience at Bloomberg, an executive MBA from Cornell, and is on the board of directors of HEAF (Harlem Educational Activities Fund), an educational non profit for the underserved; he also mentors Fortune Society fellows - a group that supports the previously justice involved. Dave is also the Chair of the iMasons NY Chapter.

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Luisa Cardani

Head of the Data Centres Programme, techUK

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Luisa Cardani

Head of the Data Centres Programme, techUK

Luisa C. Cardani is the Head of the Data Centres Programme at techUK, aiming to provide a collective voice for UK operators and working with government to improve business environment for the data centres sector.

Prior to joining techUK, Luisa worked in the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport as the Head of International Data Protection, where she led on the development of elements of the UK's data protection and privacy policy. In her role, she was also the UK official representative for the EOCD Privacy Guidelines Informal Advisory Group.

She has held a number of position in government, including leading on cross-cutting data provisions in the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, and in high priority cross-departmental projects when working in the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

She holds an M.Sc. from University College London's Department of Political Sciences.

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Vlad-Gabriel Anghel

Director of Solutions Engineering, DCD Academy

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Vlad-Gabriel Anghel

Director of Solutions Engineering, DCD Academy

A tinkerer by heart and a problem-sovler by trade - Vlad is Director of Solutions Engineering at DCD Academy, where he helps shape technical learning and industry insight for data center professionals. With a BSc in Computer Science with Management from King’s College London, along with early Cisco certifications in CCNA Routing & Switching and CCNA Security, Vlad brings a strong technical foundation to the design and delivery of learning in the digital infrastructure space.

At DCD Academy, he has played a central role in building and developing the training portfolio, creating courses across the key domains shaping today’s data center industry. His work spans mission-critical infrastructure, power, cooling, resilience, connectivity, and broader data center strategy, supported by his contributions to DCD’s industry content and analysis on topics including liquid cooling, redundancy, power systems, brownfield development, and networking.

As a trainer, Vlad has delivered learning programs to a wide range of organizations across the data center ecosystem, from hyperscalers and colocation providers to vendors and other infrastructure stakeholders. He combines subject matter expertise with a clear, structured delivery style that helps both technical and non technical audiences engage with complex topics, making him well positioned to deliver training that is both technically credible and directly relevant to real world industry challenges.

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Susanna Kass

Operating Partner, Digital Gravity Infrastructure Partners

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Susanna Kass

Operating Partner, Digital Gravity Infrastructure Partners

Susanna Kass was recognized by DCD for A Lifetime Achievement Award for Digital Infrastructure and she is a DCD Award judge. She is recognized of her design as a Global 100 Game Changer for AI Digital Infrastructure, a Climate 50 Trailblazer, and is ranked 1st in the Top 10 Women in Data Centers in the U.S.(2026-2023), and in the Top 10 Global Data Centers worldwide (2026-2024) and is one of the Top 10 Data Center Influencers on LinkedIn (2026-2021). For over 30 years, Susanna led more than 4.8 gigawatts of clean energy data center projects across 20 countries as a clean energy inventor and global Data Center operations executive. Susanna is an inventor holding patents and is featured in publications on Amazon Press as a Best-Selling Author and in Times, WSJ, Forbes, Inc. CIO, TEDx, and Data Center magazines. She led new ventures to billions from the ground up in her role as COO at eBay International, General Manager of HP Asia Pacific Data Center Operation, VP of Global Data Center Business Operations at Sun Microsystems/Oracle, Head of Innovation and Development at NextEra Energy, EVP Sustainability and Development at Baselayer I/O with Fortune 500 clients: Goldman Sachs, Citi, BofA, Walmart, GE, hyperscale cloud content providers AWS, Google, Meta-Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, Akamai, with numerous electric utilities.

Susanna is a Data Center Advisor to UNSDG-EP, an Energy Fellow and lecturer at Stanford University, and a Board Member of Stanford University Graduate School of Business Women’s Circle. Susanna is currently an Operating Partner at Digital Gravity Infrastructure Partner, Senior Advisor to AI Infra funds, a co-founder at InfraPrime℠, a Net Zero Switzerland startup funded by The European Union for Clean Energy Transition. Her Net Zero designs in AI Factory deliver code freeze of reference architecture deployments to live production in 90 days with net-positive results towards the transition to a carbon-free future and concurrently greening the grids with net energy generation to scale the growth of accelerated computing; her vision is to promote human safety, alleviate poverty, and advance sustainability environmental stewardship for the Digital Infrastructure sector.

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Emma Fryer

Director, Public Policy - Europe, CyrusOne

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Emma Fryer

Director, Public Policy - Europe, CyrusOne

Emma leads CyrusOne’s public policy activity in Europe in a role that spans both strategic and operational functions. She is responsible for identifying, monitoring and responding to regulatory developments across multiple jurisdictions. In addition to advocacy she supports the company’s community engagement activities. Prior to joining CyrusOne, she spent almost two years at environmental consultancy ERM, where she specialized in data center sustainability and resilience. Previously Emma spent over a decade at trade body techUK where she provided a collective voice for operators on matters of policy, compliance and reputation. She monitored regulatory developments, responded to consultations and produced over 200 sector-specific publications on topics ranging from data protection to climate change adaptation.

Emma has a comprehensive understanding of the challenges facing this growing sector, from power provisioning to public perception and is recognized for her thought leadership and clarity of expression. Emma sat on the Board of the Climate Neutral Data Centre Pact from 2021-2022 and was appointed to the Infrastructure Mason’s Advisory Council in 2021. She is a judge on several international award platforms.

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Dr Umaima Haider

Senior Lecturer in Computer Science and Digital Technologies, University of East London

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Dr Umaima Haider

Senior Lecturer in Computer Science and Digital Technologies, University of East London

Dr Haider is a Senior Lecturer in Computer Science and Digital Technologies at the Enterprise Computing Research Lab (https://www.eclab.uel.ac.uk), University of East London (UEL), with over a decade of experience in academic research and teaching. Prior to joining this position, she was a Senior Scientist at the Enterprise Computing Research Lab and Technical Analyst at Uptime Institute. Dr Haider was also a Lecturer in Computing at Falmouth University, UK and held a visiting research scholar position at Clemson University, South Carolina, USA. 

Dr Haider has delivered various research and industry projects globally related to energy and environmental sustainability of ICT. Additionally, she has contributed to UK public policy on various topics such as regulating ICT product sustainability and well-acquainted with various ISO/IEC and European standards, best practices and policies on sustainable ICT. 

Currently, Dr Haider’s main research interest is in the design and implementation of a sustainable ICT infrastructure, especially in a cloud and data centre environment.

Dr Haider is a regular speaker at various major industry events such as at IPExpo, DCD, and DCW. Additionally, she often writes articles for professional media magazines such as Data Centre Solutions Europe.

Dr Haider has been awarded a PhD in Software Engineering from the University of East London. She received her MSc degree in Computer Security Forensic & Risk Management from the University of Greenwich, and a BEng in Computer & Information System from the NED University of Engineering & Technology. She is also a CPSA-F (Certified Professional for Software Architecture –Foundation Level) certified from iSAQB.

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Teryn Zmuda

Chief Economist, National Association of Counties (NACo)

Teryn_Zmuda

Teryn Zmuda

Chief Economist, National Association of Counties (NACo)

Teryn Zmuda is a nationally recognized thought leader at the intersection of public policy, economic strategy, and cross-sector innovation. With nearly two decades of experience guiding strategic research and advising top federal and local leaders, she is known for translating complexity into clarity—and policy into action.

Teryn has played a direct role in shaping and implementing landmark federal initiatives, including the CARES Act, ARPA, IIJA, and IRA. A trusted advisor to policy-makers and influencers, she brings deep insight into how systems work—and how to make them work better. Her expertise spans intergovernmental finance, workforce and infrastructure strategy, and economic recovery, with a proven record of influencing legislation and program design that reaches all corners of the nation.

Whether she’s advising, keynoting, or collaborating with think tanks and philanthropies, Teryn builds bridges between ideas and implementation. With her leadership at the National Association of Counties (NACo), the organization has catalyzed national centers of research, secured meaningful partnerships, and steered policy ecosystems.

A trained economist and sociologist with an M.A. from George Washington University and a forthcoming Ph.D. in Public Policy, Teryn combines analytic rigor with human-centered insight. She serves on national advisory boards, speaks widely across industries, and is committed to mentoring rising public sector leaders. Her voice has been featured in NPR, Bloomberg, Politico, CNN, and more.

Teryn brings the ability to zoom out to strategy and zoom in to impact—exactly the kind of presence that shapes conversations and futures.

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Darren McGrath

Managing Director, DCD Academy

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Darren McGrath

Managing Director, DCD Academy

Darren is Managing Director of DCD’s education business - DCD Academy, a leading global provider of mission critical learning and development services to the data center industry . 

Darren was previously leader of Learning and Development at SoftwareONE, Capita, Bureau Veritas and SGS and has in-depth experience of the full learning and talent development lifecycle and understands how L&D is integral to impact the wider strategic objectives of organisations.

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Brittany Miller

Chief Development Officer, NTT Global Data Centers

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Brittany Miller

Chief Development Officer, NTT Global Data Centers

Brittany Miller previously served as the Vice President of Construction and Critical Facilities Engineering and Design at NTT Global Data Centers Americas, Inc. where she led new data center construction projects which feature global industry standards, multi-story buildings, and massive capacity.

Prior to joining NTT Global Data Centers Americas, Ms. Miller spent four years leading teams in Microsoft’s Cloud Operations and Innovation business unit, helping to meet the unique challenges of a rapidly growing global business. She led a team that was responsible for global program management and governance along with AMER lease execution. Ms. Miller was also responsible for supply chain development, sourcing, and execution for AMER infrastructure projects during her time at Microsoft.

Previously, Ms. Miller held multiple positions at Intel over her 10-year tenure there. She led a global team of supply chain professionals from setting construction delivery strategy through the execution of large-scale construction projects. Ms. Miller led construction program setup, led global teams, and held positions as a project manager for highly complex projects.

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Ilissa Miller

Founder & CEO, iMiller Public Relations

Ilissa_Miller

Ilissa Miller

Founder & CEO, iMiller Public Relations

Ilissa Miller is the Founder and CEO of iMiller Public Relations, host of the NEDAS Live! podcast, and Editor-in-Chief of Data Center POST and TelecomNewsroom. With nearly 30 years of experience in PR, marketing, and digital infrastructure, Ilissa has launched global campaigns across data centers, cloud, and telecom. She serves on the Forbes Agency Council, advises the Nomad Futurist Foundation, and holds board roles with OIX and the In-building Wireless Association (TIWA).

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Suzanne O'Toole

Suzanne O'Toole

EMEA Lead | IM Women & General Manager, CO&I, Microsoft

Ed Ansett

Ed Ansett

Global Director Technology & Innovation, Ramboll

Rachit Mohan

Managing Director - Data Center Leasing, APAC Digital Infrastructure Capital Markets, India, JLL

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Rachit Mohan

Managing Director - Data Center Leasing, APAC Digital Infrastructure Capital Markets, India, JLL

With nearly 20 years of experience in real estate leasing, investments, and data centers, Rachit leads the Data Center Leasing business for APAC and the Data Center Capital Markets business for India. He has built a reputation as a trusted and respected advisor in the field of digital infrastructure in India and throughout the APAC region.

With a profound comprehension of the subject matter, Rachit has established strong relationships with occupiers, operators, investors, developers, landowners, hyperscalers, as well as enterprise, retail, and end customers.

Rachit has successfully concluded transactions totaling over 18 million sq ft across 350+ deals. He has demonstrated exceptional mobility, working extensively across the Indian, APAC, and US markets. Rachit has played a key role in significant fundraise projects such as establishing a joint venture platform between a local operator and an international player. Additionally, he has provided buy-side advisory services for top data center operators, including large-scale self-build acquisition projects, as well as facilitating various high-profile colocation deals for major enterprise clients, including key BFSIs and OTT platforms.

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Mark Dansie

OCP Ready(TM) Facilities Lead, Open Compute Project

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Mark Dansie

OCP Ready(TM) Facilities Lead, Open Compute Project

Mark is a team member and contributor to the OCP data center facility project He has championed and led the creation of the 'Colo Facility Guidelines for Open Racks' and quality checklist document, to assist tenants with finding suitable colo facilities and helping operators to understand what they need to provide to accommodate Open Racks and OCP IT gear. Mark is the lead for the 'OCP Ready' program.

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Stephen Beard

Head of Data Centres & Partner, Knight Frank

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Stephen Beard

Head of Data Centres & Partner, Knight Frank

As Head of Data Centres at Knight Frank, Stephen brings with him a wealth of expert experience across all transactional services including colocation acquisition, site acquisition and sale, Sale & Leaseback and general investment. He has acquired colocation space across 30+ global markets and has advised on over $1bn of data centre transactions. Stephen has a detailed knowledge of the EMEA, APAC AND LATAM markets and an extensive sector network including colocation customers, data centre operators, telecommunication providers and hyperscale cloud.

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Megan Baker

Vice President, Engagement, Green Building Initiative

Megan Baker, GBI

Megan Baker

Vice President, Engagement, Green Building Initiative

As Vice President of Engagement, Megan Baker is responsible for development and implementation of GBI’s global marketing and communications strategies. She joined GBI in 2017 and held roles in client services, business development, and education before rising to her current role in 2023.

Megan is a passionate advocate for increasing accessibility of sustainable, healthy, and resilient buildings through education and assessment. She creates strategic partnerships, identifies recognition opportunities, and opens markets to increase the visibility of GBI’s flagship offerings: Green Globes and Ascent certification. Her outreach efforts helped GBI reach nearly 1 billion certified square feet in 2025 and more than quadruple membership in three years.

Megan leads GBI’s Data Center market development, developing specialized programs, executing strategic partnerships, creating education and resources, and fostering community to deliver sustainable and resilient data centers and AI factories. Megan serves as a Nomad Futurist Ambassador to promote access and opportunities for workforce development in the digital infrastructure industry and is a recipient of the 2024 IM100 Award.

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Rudolf Gordon-Seymour

Rudolf Gordon-Seymour

Director, EMEA, Infrastructure Masons

Professor PS Lee

Head of Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore (NUS)

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Professor PS Lee

Head of Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore (NUS)

Professor Poh Seng Lee (PS Lee) is Professor and Head of Mechanical Engineering at the National University of Singapore (NUS), and Executive Director of the Energy Studies Institute (ESI). He leads research and translation on sustainable, AI-ready digital infrastructure, specialising in advanced thermal management and liquid cooling for high-density compute, spanning direct-to-chip architectures, cold-plate innovation, and system-level integration that targets improved efficiency, reliability, and practical deployability in tropical climates. His work bridges component-to-facility design, exploring how cooling choices interact with power delivery, controls, heat rejection, and sustainability metrics (energy, water, and carbon). Beyond R&D, PS Lee works closely with data centre operators, technology vendors, and public agencies to de-risk deployment pathways and strengthen ecosystem capabilities through test-bedding, standards, and workforce development.

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Amy Daniell

SVP Strategy and Development - EMEA, STACK Infrastructure

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Amy Daniell

SVP Strategy and Development - EMEA, STACK Infrastructure

With nearly a decade in the industry, Amy spent the early part of her career delivering data centre builds for industry leading clients such as Dell, IBM, Ericsson and Vodafone. She then joined AECOM in early 2014 to drive mission critical engineering across EMEA and APAC. Her unique insight drove AECOM to become an industry thought leader and partner of choice for many global corporations and smaller niche data center operators. Amy was at NTT as Director in the Hyperscale team to continue NTT’s successful relationships and delivery for many of the household names in the Data Centre industry. Amy is now SVP Strategy and Development at STACK Infrastructure, EMEA.

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Fernando García

Head of Data Centers Strategic Development, Europe, Bureau Veritas Mission Critical

Fernando Garcia

Fernando García

Head of Data Centers Strategic Development, Europe, Bureau Veritas Mission Critical

Head of Data Centers Strategic Development, Europe

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Zabrina Johal

CEO, Zap Energy

Zabrina_Johal

Zabrina Johal

CEO, Zap Energy

Zabrina Johal is Chief Executive Officer of Zap Energy, where she is focused on advancing both fusion and fission as complementary pathways to deliver clean, reliable energy at scale. Her career spans more than 20 years in nuclear engineering, strategy, and leadership. She began as a U.S. Naval Nuclear Officer aboard the USS Carl Vinson and spent nearly two decades at General Atomics, shaping advanced energy programs and leading strategic investment decisions. She most recently served as a senior executive at AtkinsRéalis, guiding strategy across a multi-billion-dollar nuclear portfolio across North America, Europe, and the Middle East. Zabrina is passionate about advancing practical energy solutions that strengthen energy security, enable economic growth, and improve quality of life worldwide. She is known for translating complex technical challenges into actionable, scalable outcomes.

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Miranda Gardiner

Executive Director, iMasons Climate Accord

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Miranda Gardiner

Executive Director, iMasons Climate Accord

Miranda Gardiner is the Executive Director of the iMasons Climate Accord, a non-profit composed of 250+ member companies, representing more than $6T in market cap, and aligned on global carbon accounting of digital infrastructure. The organization is focused on influencing market-based decisions and driving the data center industry to ultimately achieve net zero carbon.

With over 16 years of experience, Miranda is a driven, professional manager with extensive industry experience in green buildings, energy and water efficiency, and sustainable master plans and policies. She is passionate about the environment and improving sustainability practices through local and global engagement, with a proven record of working for international sustainability organizations like the US Green Building Council and in 2020, was recognized by USGBC as a LEED Fellow.

Miranda is an enthusiastic author and public speaker who clearly communicates with peers, clients, and corporations to achieve individual and departmental goals. She thrives in implementing sustainable practices that result in significant cost savings, improved efficiency, and reduced environmental impact. Additionally, she is distance running coach and cycling instructor, who believes that caring for oneself resonates in caring for the planet; she has completed 8 marathons and 3 ultramarathons.

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Stephen Worn

CTO and Managing Director, NAM, DatacenterDynamics

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Stephen Worn

CTO and Managing Director, NAM, DatacenterDynamics

Mr. Worn has been involved with industry-leading enterprises and clients around the world for over 25 years as an Industrial FMS and ICT Network and Facilities Engineer; with over eight years in Asia, across the Americas and again back on a pan-European level.

Mr. Worn was the Head of Technology Services for Dimension Data UK, where he was also their acting Practice Manager for Data Centres and Intelligent Buildings. Stephen has held senior management roles in Nortel Networks as their EMEA Senior Director of Datacentres, at Japan's Nippon Suisan International, China's National Center for Industry and Technology, as well as with the Center for Special Economic Zones.

Mr. Worn has supported DatacenterDynamics since its first conference as Chief Technical Advisor and Guest Conference Chairman. He is currently CEO of North America, Managing Director of AsiaPacific, as well as Global CTO for Data Center Dynamics. Mr. Worn holds two Masters Degrees. 

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Sandhya Mutreja

Global Head of People and Int Comms, Yondr

Sandhya Mutreja

Sandhya Mutreja

Global Head of People and Int Comms, Yondr

Sandhya Mutreja is a visionary global HR leader with over a decade of transformational experience, including 3+ years in the data center industry. She has lived, worked, and led diverse teams across EMEA, APAC, and the Americas, bringing a unique global perspective to every aspect of her work. With a proven track record spanning both Fortune 500 companies and high-growth startups, Sandhya excels at aligning human capital strategies with business imperatives to drive workforce optimization, operational scalability, and the creation of high-performing, resilient teams in rapidly evolving environments.

Her expertise spans across the full HR spectrum, including strategic talent acquisition, talent and performance management, learning and development, executive compensation design, Total Rewards and Operations. Sandhya is a key architect of digital HR transformations, leveraging cutting-edge technologies and data analytics to enhance operational efficiency and employee experience. She has played a pivotal role in ensuring the strategic readiness of go-to-market teams—spanning sales, implementation, and customer support—ensuring seamless execution of business strategies that deliver measurable outcomes.

Throughout her career, Sandhya has successfully navigated organizations through complex, high-stakes transitions, including mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, and IPO readiness, positioning businesses for sustained growth and success.

Sandhya’s consistently provides actionable insights and strategic recommendations to boards and executive teams, helping shape long-term business objectives. Her analytical acumen, combined with a profound understanding of workforce dynamics, drives informed decision-making helps propels organizational growth and performance.

A passionate advocate for fostering inclusive, psychologically safe workplaces, Sandhya champions a culture of belonging and holistic well-being. She is dedicated to mental health and wellness initiatives, serving on the Board of Vaughan Social Action Council in Toronto, a non-profit organization committed to driving mental health awareness and securing funding for community programs through federal and provincial partnerships.

In the data center industry, Sandhya’s key priority is in addressing the war for talent, with a primary focus on building a future-ready workforce to meet the growing demands of the sector. Her goal is to be a thought leader in developing robust talent pipelines for the future within the data center industry and partner with peers and industry leaders in addressing the challenge.

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Audrey Escalante

Audrey Escalante

Director, Training & Administration Operations Training, Digital Realty

Mara Ervin

Director of Data Centers, Stonebridge

Mara Ervin

Mara Ervin

Director of Data Centers, Stonebridge

Mara Ervin has now joined Stonebridge as a developer offering hyperscalers and infrastructure investors not just land, but a roadmap and a team that delivers scalable, sustainable, and future-ready campuses. She continues to operate her own advisory firm, Mara Jade Consulting, LLC. 

Mara has held several leadership roles during her 20+ years in mission critical. Over this time, she has developed an expansive network ranging from data center builders, operators, and manufacturers, to AE firms, consultants, general contractors, integrators, and subject matter experts across all verticals.

Mara serves as the US Eastern Chair for Infrastructure Masons Women, where she drives diversity and inclusion initiatives to onboard new talent and help bridge the digital divide. She is also the co-founder/co-host of the podcast Beyond The Megawatt.

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Michael Murray

Group Business Development / Power & Renewables Director, Kirby Group Engineering

Michael Murray BW

Michael Murray

Group Business Development / Power & Renewables Director, Kirby Group Engineering

Michael Murray is Group Director with overall responsibility for the Power and Renewables business. Michael is also responsible for Group Business Development. Working closely with the Chief Executive Officer, he is heavily involved in developing the company’s strategic direction and alignment to the company’s overall business objectives. Michael has been awarded MBA from Technological University Dublin and a BEng degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Ulster.

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Ana Franco

Ana Franco

Directora de Negocios Internacionales, Elea Data Centers

Dr. Ehsaan Farsimadan

Senior Manager, Colocation Engineering EMEA, AWS

Ehsaan Profile Photo

Dr. Ehsaan Farsimadan

Senior Manager, Colocation Engineering EMEA, AWS

Ehsaan Farsimadan is a Senior Manager of Colocation Engineering for EMEA at AWS, responsible for leading the expansion of the Colocation Engineering organization, team scaling, including design and life cycle engineering of all AWS Colo data centers in EMEA. Prior to this, Ehsaan was a Senior Consultant at Uptime Institute, responsible for data center design and facility Tier certifications, in addition to being an ATD course instructor. He also worked for companies offering digital twin modelling for data center energy and cost performance, including M&E design consultancy early in his career. Ehsaan is a chartered engineer accredited by the IMechE, and he obtained his doctorate (PhD) in Mechanical Engineering Turbulence Research in 2008.

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Chris Davies

Chris Davies

Global Data Centre Manager, Cleveland Cable Company

Peter Judge

Senior Research Analyst, Uptime Institute

Peter Judge

Peter Judge

Senior Research Analyst, Uptime Institute

Peter Judge is a Senior Research Analyst at the Uptime Institute.

Previously he was the executive editor at Datacenter Dynamics. He has been involved with tech B2B publishing in the UK for many years, working at Ziff-Davis, ZDNet, IDG, and Reed.

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Dr. Jon Summers

Scientific Lead in Data Centres, RISE Research Institutes of Sweden

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Dr. Jon Summers

Scientific Lead in Data Centres, RISE Research Institutes of Sweden

Jon Summers is Scientific Lead in Data Centres at Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE), an Adjunct Professor in Fluid Mechanics at Lulea Technical University in Sweden, a Visiting Professor in Thermofluids at the University of Leeds and chair of the Future Technologies Symposium of the Open Compute Project. During the last 25 years, he has worked on many government and industry funded projects requiring the use of computation. Having built and managed compute clusters to support many research projects, Jon chaired the High-Performance Computing User Group for 20 years at the University of Leeds. In the last eight years Jon’s research has focused on a range of thermal and energy management projects within Data Centres, Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning and industrial sectors. Since early 2013 Jon has been involved in liquid cooled IT research projects, focussing both at the data centre and the microprocessor scales, which has been further transformed by the opportunities of integrated digital infrastructure research at the RISE ICE test and demo datacenter facility, which includes large testbeds supporting industry and academia. His research and technological development at RISE during this decade is focussed on making the digital infrastructure as energy efficient and sustainable as possible.

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Louis Charlton

Louis Charlton

CEO, Global Commissioning

Santiago Suinaga

Senior Vice President, Cloud & Hyperscale, Stream Data Centers

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Santiago Suinaga

Senior Vice President, Cloud & Hyperscale, Stream Data Centers

Santiago Suinaga, formerly Chief Executive Officer of Infrastructure Masons, is a senior multi-cultural executive in the digital infrastructure industry, with 20 years of international business experience in more than 10 countries across data center design, critical operations, M&A, sales, finance and cost management in high growth markets. He most recently served as CEO of KIO Networks Data Centers.

Santiago joined iMasons as a member in 2020, has served as an Advisory Council member, and is a founding member of the iMasons Climate Accord. He previously was Mexico’s local chapter leader and a member of the LatinX Member Resource Group.

Santiago holds a dual MBA degree from the IPADE Business School and the Haas School of Business at the University of California Berkeley. Santiago has a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the Iberoamerican University.

Santiago’s Industry Certifications include Uptime Institute Accredited Tier Designer (ATD) and Accredited Tier Specialist (ATS), C-Net Certified Data Centre Design Professional (CDCDP) and Certified Data Centre Management Professional (CDCMP).

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Ellen Yang

Board of Advisory Council

Ellen Yang

Ellen Yang

Board of Advisory Council

Ellen is a strong advocate for DEI and for women in Data centers and global construction. She is actively involved in iMWomen, making positive impact and influence, with IM100 award recognition for her contribution to the digital infrastructure industry.

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Lee Prescott

Lee Prescott

Managing Director, Technology Europe, RED Engineering

Jonathan Evans

Jonathan Evans

Director, Total Data Center Solutions

Sarah Davey

Director EMEA, Digital Infrastructure, Design & Construction, Equinix

6. Sarah 2023

Sarah Davey

Director EMEA, Digital Infrastructure, Design & Construction, Equinix

Sarah Davey is the Director of EMEA Digital Infrastructure within Equinix's Global Design and Construction team. With a degree in mechanical engineering, Sarah has dedicated the past decade to the data centre industry, where she has excelled in various roles. Her experience ranges from mission-critical consultancy to leading multi-disciplinary design delivery teams on new build and expansion projects at Equinix, all while achieving professional chartership. Highly skilled in stakeholder management, project controls, and diverse engineering aspects of data centres, Sarah currently oversees connectivity, digital infrastructure, and network deployments across the EMEA portfolio. She is an active contributor to industry initiatives, frequently participating in conference panels and serving as a returning judge for the DCD Global Awards, where she was honoured as the Young Mission Critical Engineer of the Year in 2019.

Passionate about collaboration and effective communication, Sarah is committed to empowering her peers to succeed in teamwork, project delivery, and their career journeys. In addition to her professional responsibilities, she leads an employee team representing the UK business, focusing on creating events and opportunities that promote belonging for all. This initiative encompasses key pillars of diversity, inclusion, belonging, wellbeing, and community impact. Currently, Sarah is also spearheading an internal women's network within the global design and construction team, aimed at connecting, empowering, and educating women on their career paths in engineering, construction, and the data centre industry.

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Alfonso Aranda Arias

Alfonso Aranda Arias

EVP Global Operations, ACS Digital & Energy

Siobhan Nagle

Managing Director, Digital Infrastructure (EMEA) Ltd

Siobhan Nagle

Siobhan Nagle

Managing Director, Digital Infrastructure (EMEA) Ltd

Experienced senior executive and board advisor with a 25+ year career supporting business growth and value creation across the digital infrastructure, real estate investment and banking sectors.

This includes senior leadership roles with major telecommunications companies (NTL, now Arqiva and Virgin Media), financial institutions (Anglo Irish Bank) with responsibility for substantial global portfolios for UHNW clients and data centre/digital infrastructure companies including Amazon Web Services, Equinix, Pure Data Centres Group with responsibility for data centre supply and real estate across EMEA.

Siobhán now operates as an independent consultant and Non-Executive, working with boards, investment committees and executive teams, supporting pension and sovereign wealth funds and investors to unlock value, optimise performance and navigate the digital infrastructure market.

Well known in the real estate and data centre networks as an industry commentator and thought leader, she works on a voluntary basis with a number of global groups focused on addressing the challenges faced by women in the data centre industry and real estate industries to foster solutions for a more inclusive future. She holds degrees in Real Estate and Investment from Technological University, Dublin, University of Greenwich, London and a post grad from Trinity College, Dublin.

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Diego Ferdman

Responsable Planificación y Gestión Data Centers, Telecom Argentina

Diego Ferdman - Telecom Argentina.jpg

Diego Ferdman

Responsable Planificación y Gestión Data Centers, Telecom Argentina

Hace 25 años trabajo en Telecomunicaciones en distintas posiciones en empresas como Telefónica y ANTEL de Uruguay, y hace casi 10 años en Telecom Argentina como Responsable de la Planificación y Gestión de la Infraestructura de Conectividad de los DataCenters.

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Varun Garg

Co-Founder & CEO, Quantum Technology Systems

Varun_Garg

Varun Garg

Co-Founder & CEO, Quantum Technology Systems

Varun Garg is the CEO of Quantum Technology Systems Corp, a company revolutionizing the way data center infrastructure is built and delivered. With deep expertise in global supply chains, IT infrastructure, and AI-driven process innovation, Varun is leading the charge to create a true end-to-end supply chain company — one that eliminates traditional inefficiencies and is purpose-built for the complex, rapidly evolving needs of the data center industry. Under his leadership, Quantum Technology Systems is pioneering a smarter, more agile model that integrates power, server, and connectivity solutions with global delivery capabilities, helping clients accelerate deployments while reducing costs and risks.

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Obinna Isiadinso

Global Sector Lead, Data Centers & Cloud, International Finance Corporation

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Obinna Isiadinso

Global Sector Lead, Data Centers & Cloud, International Finance Corporation

Obinna Isiadinso is an investor in private equity and private credit transactions in digital infrastructure companies globally.

He is the Global Sector Lead for Data Centers and Cloud investments and a Senior Investment Officer with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) Global Telecom, Media & Technology team.

At IFC, Obinna leads investment teams on investment valuation and execution considerations, reviews private equity and credit transaction structures, and participates in transaction negotiations in the Data Center and Cloud sectors in emerging markets globally.

Prior to joining IFC Global TMT, Obinna was a Senior Investment Officer with the IFC Asset Management Company (“AMC”) and a member of the investment team for the $1 billion IFC African, Latin American and Caribbean Fund. At AMC, Obinna was responsible for originating, structuring, and executing private equity investments across Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. While with AMC, Obinna was on the board of directors of Afrimax Technologies and Persianas Holdings.

Obinna joined AMC in 2015 from ARM Capital Partners, a private equity firm focused on growth capital investments in West Africa. At ARM, Obinna was responsible for originating, structuring and executing private equity investments. At ARM, Obinna served on the board of directors of E-Motion Advertising.

Obinna was previously a Principal with Development Partners International (“DPI”) a pan-African private equity firm. At DPI, Obinna was responsible for originating, structuring and executing private equity investments across Africa. During his time at DPI, Obinna served on the board of directors of Eaton Towers, Libstar Holdings and GTA Assur Holdings.

Obinna holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BBA (Accounting) from Baruch College.

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Melanie Nethercott

Melanie Nethercott

Director- Education Programs EMEA, STACK Infrastructure