Malaysia Must Focus More On Green Computing To Continue Attracting Data Centre Investments

By Mikhail Raj Abdullah

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 20 (Bernama) -- Malaysia must focus more on green computing hardware and software to keep up with advancements in information technology (IT) infrastructure if it wants to continue attracting global data centre investments.

Sarkunarajah Shanmugam, an IT infrastructure and operations professional, said these investments in green or sustainable IT are crucial given Malaysia’s rising reputation as a data centre hub in Southeast Asia. He urged the government to provide incentives, including tax breaks, to allow data centers which are the backbone of the digital economy to continue upgrading their hardware to one that is more energy efficient and keep data centers modern.

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Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) should also be given incentives and encouraged to embrace green computing, he said during “The Nation” talk show aired on Bernama TV recently.

Going more into green computing is pertinent and strategic as Malaysia is emerging as a key player in the region, more so given the surging global demand for data storage and processing. In attracting major investments, he said Malaysia’s biggest advantage is its location in a disaster-free zone, devoid of major natural disasters such as earthquakes and hurricanes. “The stability of the geographical location is critical and that makes for a resilient data centre,” Sarkunarajah said.

Other factors pulling investments to Malaysia include favourable policies for industry players to build new data centres and the country’s proximity to major markets in the region.

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“That definitely puts us at an advantage for data centres,” he said when asked to elaborate on the reasons for Malaysia’s rise as a data centre hub in Southeast Asia by the programme’s host Melissa Ong.

Ong said Malaysia’s penchant for attracting data centres was evidenced by Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi’s recent revelation that the state attracted over 50 data centre investments over the last two years.

Malaysia, which recorded approved investments from data centres of RM114.7 billion between 2021 and 2023, reportedly has 71 data centres listed in 11 markets.

Green computing, also known as green or sustainable IT, is the design, manufacture and use of computers, chips and other components that limit the harmful impact on the environment and reduce carbon emissions and energy consumption. 

Elaborating on keeping data centres modern, Sarkunarajah said the hardware hosted in these data centres must be replaced with newer and energy-efficient hardware as it becomes available. “So, you can't be running a server that was built and deployed five years ago whose energy consumption is much higher than the latest servers or the latest hardware.”

“That means we continuously need to be attractive to the market as investors will be encouraged to be able to refresh their technology every five years or so,” he added.

Turning to computer software development and software engineering, he said there have been enough papers written about the energy efficiency of programming languages.

He cited how Python is the preferred programming language for data analysis, but on being energy efficient, Python is one of the least energy-efficient programming languages. “Java is a lot more energy efficient,” he said, emphasising that selecting an energy-efficient programming language is akin to green computing.”

“To facilitate this, we need to get more green computing conversations going on in the country for which institutions of higher learning have an enormous opportunity to play. They must create graduates, especially in the IT industry, who consistently think about green computing in their day-to-day work and projects,” he continued.

He said that approach is critical, which is why the government should also “encourage more SMEs around that (green computing) space” to ensure a more comprehensive sustainable approach across wider sections of the economy.

-- BERNAMA