Kathy Gibson reports from Vertiv Week in Zagreb – The world is in the middle of an artificial intelligence (AI) revolution, driven in large part by a multi-billion dollar data centre build-out. But the massive development taking place in the developed world threatens to leave emerging market economies with a deeper digital divide than ever.
Speaking at the European Data Centre Association Summit, Michael Reffay, MD of France Datacentre Association, says: “We are in a unique moment in time.
“We are seeing the largest investment wave ever: trillions of dollars are being pumped into the industry.
“This is a unique opportunity to invest in security, data sovereignty and renewable energy, to build the most secure and greenest AI infrastructure.”
But, while the frenetic pace of data centre investment is making AI possible for much of the Global North, emerging markets are in danger of being left even further behind.
It’s a complicated issue, Reffay says, and one that organisations like the Global Partnership for AI are trying to bridge.
At the same time, he adds, there are moves within countries in the Global South to create their own solutions. He points to recent moves in India.
“Plus, there are technical solutions emerging, especially when it comes to open source, that will benefit for the greater good. And we must we must make sure that it does.
“So I think there is a long way forward, and we may be moving in the right direction.”
Enthusiastic and innovative people are helping to advance AI in emerging markets, Reffay adds.
“So I think the digital divide will be most probably characterised more by the way we use AI and how far we can go using open AI.
“But we should put in place some mechanism that will benefit the greater good and diffuse these technologies to other countries.”