When and where is DCD Connect APAC 2026?

DCD Connect APAC 2026 runs from 9 to 11 June 2026 at the Grand Hyatt Bali in Indonesia. It is the Asia-Pacific edition of Data Center Dynamics' global DCD Connect series, and organiser figures put the 2026 gathering at more than 2,000 senior delegates, over 100 exhibitors and over 150 speakers across three days of conference sessions, an exhibition floor and curated networking.

Which Australian operators are speaking at DCD Connect APAC 2026?

The confirmed speaker list features AirTrunk, NEXTDC, CDC, DCI Data Centers Australia, DigiCo Infrastructure REIT, DXN and industry body Data Centres Australia. AirTrunk has four speakers, led by Vice President of Product and Design Dave Martin, and NEXTDC has three, including Asia head Luke Mackinnon and Chief Customer and Commercial Officer David Dzienciol. CDC Chief Strategy Officer Jack Dan, DCI chief executive Sumit Mukhija, DigiCo's Jason Popiolek, DXN chief executive Shalini Lagrutta and Data Centres Australia chief executive Belinda Dennett round out a deep Australian presence across the operator, investor and policy tracks.

DCD Connect APAC 2026: Australian operators head to Bali for the region's flagship data centre gathering

At a glance

DCD Connect APAC runs 9 to 11 June 2026 at the Grand Hyatt Bali for its third consecutive year, with more than 2,000 senior delegates, 100-plus exhibitors and 150-plus speakers, according to organiser figures. Attendance has roughly doubled each edition, from about 750 in 2024.
New for 2026 is a closed-door DCD Leadership Summit for cloud and colocation C-suite, alongside a full-day DCD Connect Investment APAC event for senior investors.
Australian representation on the 2026 agenda is deep: AirTrunk, NEXTDC, CDC, DCI Data Centers Australia, DigiCo Infrastructure REIT, DXN and industry body Data Centres Australia all have senior speakers confirmed.
The timing suits Australian delegates: JLL has sized the Asia-Pacific opportunity at US$772 billion, and domestic capacity is forecast to more than double to 3,100MW by 2030 on an estimated A$26 billion of investment.

Why DCD Connect APAC matters for Australia

DCD Connect APAC is the Asia-Pacific anchor of Data Center Dynamics' global event series, and for three days it concentrates the region's operators, investors, hyperscaler partners and supply chain in one venue. Organiser DCD puts the 2026 gathering at more than 2,000 senior delegates, over 100 exhibitors and over 150 speakers.

Certified Strategic is attending for the first time this year, to take in the regional market first hand and report back to readers in a recap after the event.

DCD Connect APAC returns to Bali for its third consecutive year in 2026, and the growth curve is its own signal about the region. Organiser figures put the inaugural 2024 edition at more than 750 senior leaders, 2025 at over 1,000, and 2026 at more than 2,000. For 2026 the event extends to three full days and adds the Leadership Summit and the standalone Investment day.

The numbers framing the room

The backdrop is a region in a capital supercycle. JLL has sized the Asia-Pacific data centre opportunity at US$772 billion to 2030, split between about US$286 billion of real estate value and up to US$486 billion of GPU and networking fit-out, a figure we unpacked in our analysis of the JLL Asia-Pacific report and Australia's position. Australia is one of the more mature markets inside that number, competing with Malaysia, Japan, India and Indonesia for the same hyperscale and neocloud commitments.

At home, research commissioned by AirTrunk, AWS, CDC, Microsoft and NEXTDC projects Australian capacity more than doubling from 1,350MW in 2024 to 3,100MW by 2030, requiring a further A$26 billion of investment. The neocloud tier sharpens the demand picture: a class of GPU-first operators has signed more than 1,600MW of committed Australian pipeline in under 18 months, the subject of our neocloud market report.

Australia's representation on the 2026 agenda

Australia is one of the most heavily represented markets on this year's confirmed speaker list, with senior figures spread across the operator, investor and policy tracks.

AirTrunk has four people on the agenda, led by Dave Martin, Vice President of Product and Design, with colleagues across embodied carbon, design and customer success. NEXTDC fields three, including Luke Mackinnon, Senior Vice President and Managing Director for Asia, and David Dzienciol, Chief Customer and Commercial Officer; the company opened its first overseas site, KL1 in Kuala Lumpur, on 14 May 2026 and has set out an A$8.4 billion four-city Asian pipeline. CDC's Chief Strategy Officer Jack Dan, DCI Data Centers Australia chief executive Sumit Mukhija, DigiCo Infrastructure REIT's Jason Popiolek and DXN chief executive Shalini Lagrutta round out the operator presence, while Belinda Dennett, chief executive of industry body Data Centres Australia, carries the policy voice into the room.

Organisation	Confirmed speaker(s)	Role
AirTrunk	Dave Martin, plus David Pivac, Shiva Ghazal, Heather Laurie	VP Product and Design, with embodied carbon, design and customer success leads
NEXTDC	Luke Mackinnon, David Dzienciol, Claire Sangster	SVP and MD Asia; Chief Customer and Commercial Officer; Head of Regional Sales
CDC	Jack Dan	Chief Strategy Officer
DCI Data Centers Australia	Sumit Mukhija	Chief Executive Officer
DigiCo Infrastructure REIT	Jason Popiolek	Senior Technical Director
DXN	Shalini Lagrutta	CEO and Managing Director
Data Centres Australia (DCA)	Belinda Dennett	Chief Executive Officer

Source: Certified Strategic Editorial, based on the DCD Connect APAC 2026 speaker list, June 2026.

Australian and ANZ arms of the supply chain add to the contingent, including Piller Australia, Kapitol Group, BAC and EAE. The read for an Australian delegate is straightforward: the people who set capacity and commercial strategy at home are reachable in one venue over three days, on neutral ground and with more time than a domestic conference allows.

What to watch in Bali

Three things are worth holding in view. First, where the capital signals point: the Investment APAC day will indicate whether Australia is holding its share of regional deal flow against Malaysia and Japan. Second, the power and cooling supply chain, where long-lead equipment availability and liquid cooling readiness now set Australian delivery dates, and the exhibition floor is where that picture comes into focus. Third, how Australian operators and neoclouds present their regional ambitions, which signals where the next wave of multi-megawatt commitments lands.