EdgeConneX will also support AI for Science initiatives and develop engineering talent through real industrial use cases and learning initiatives.
Singapore – September 8, 2026 – EdgeConneX®, a pioneer in global Build-to-Suit and Build-to-Density infrastructure solutions, is pleased to announce that it has joined the Sustainable Tropical Data Centre Testbed Phase 2.0 (STDCT 2.0) Consortium as its top-tier anchor partner. This new partnership deepens the company’s commitment to sustainable and efficient data center innovation in one of the world’s most challenging operating environments. Home to the company’s Asia Pacific regional headquarters, Singapore holds strategic importance for EdgeConneX, which is proud to support the nation’s journey to become an anchor point for next-generation AI deployments.
The EdgeConneX commitment spans multiple years and includes funding toward a shared infrastructure pool managed by the program team, as well as specific curated projects where EdgeConneX will directly contribute its global data center expertise, including its high-density data center solution, Ingenuity.
First launched in November 2023 and hosted at the College of Design and Engineering (CDE) in the National University of Singapore (NUS), STDCT was established to enhance Singapore’s competitiveness in sustainable and efficient data center solutions and is recognized as the first data center testbed in the tropics. Phase 2.0 advances that mission, focusing on next-generation, AI-ready data center solutions that incorporate critical technologies such as advanced liquid cooling and grid-responsive operations to power ultra-high-density racks sustainably. More than a physical facility, STDCT 2.0 is a technology- and operator-agnostic co-innovation program designed to bring together stakeholders across the data center industry to future-proof the tropical data center sector. The STDCT 2.0 initiative builds on a wider effort to develop a living testbed that brings together academia and industry to evaluate, validate, derisk and accelerate the deployment of sustainable solutions for tropical data center environments.
“EdgeConneX is excited to provide its multi-year support to this established research program. With AI workloads driving a dramatic increase in rack densities, the industry is rethinking how data centers are designed, powered, cooled, and upgraded. We see value in programs like STDCT 2.0, which bridge research and deployment by testing physics-informed design and digital twin technologies in live operating environments and translating innovation into practical, scalable solutions.“ – Thorsten Ziegler, SVP Engineering at EdgeConneX
“EdgeConneX has a strong sustainability track record. In Asia Pacific, our facilities use advanced non-evaporative cooling systems, which deliver efficiency to our hyperscale and AI customers, and help preserve community water resources. The collaboration with NUS, and the lessons learned from STDCT 2.0, will benefit our data center designs and operations not only in APAC, but all around the world.” – Chi Yee Ling, Vice President of Site Development and Real Estate APAC at EdgeConneX
“As compute demand surges, the strain on digital infrastructure is intensifying. This strain is often felt hardest in tropical regions like Singapore, where high heat and humidity push conventional cooling and operational systems to their limits. EdgeConneX expertise in hyperscale and AI data center deployment will be instrumental in shaping the next phase of research at STDCT. We greatly appreciate the strong support for the program, and we look forward to our future collaborations.” – Professor Lee Poh Seng, Program Director of STDCT and Head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at NUS CDE
As the anchor industry partner of STDCT 2.0 Consortium, EdgeConneX will co-invest in and help shape the shared research infrastructure, while actively participating in collaborative R&D, technology integration and field validation. By leveraging the facility as a multi-vendor, real-world testbed, EdgeConneX will support the evaluation, de-risking and accelerated deployment of sustainable data center solutions at commercial data-center scale. The shared infrastructure will include modular data-center test environments, advanced liquid-cooling and heat-rejection systems, high-resolution instrumentation and telemetry platforms, and an AI-native digital twin for system modelling, optimisation, predictive operations and lifecycle performance assessment.
As the STDCT 2.0 Consortium Lead, NUS drives the design, development, and orchestration of innovations in cooling, power, heat rejection systems and an AI-native digital twin, while overseeing the testbed, program management, and industry collaboration to enable the development, integration, and validation of next-generation technologies. For more information, visit https://cde.nus.edu.sg/stdct/
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