Proposed MDDI bill to strengthen security & sustainability of S'pore's data centres & cloud services
Data centres of at least 3MW will need to meet energy-efficiency requirements.
The Digital Infrastructure Bill, introduced by Singapore's Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI), passed its first reading in Parliament on September 8. The legislation establishes two new licensing regimes, overseen by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), aimed at enhancing the security and resilience of major data centres and cloud services, as well as promoting environmental sustainability in data centre operations.
The security and resilience regime applies to large colocation and cloud data centres with a critical IT load of at least 10 megawatts (MW), as well as major cloud service providers (CSPs) generating S$100 million or more in average annual revenue from Singapore-based users over the past three years. These operators will be required to implement security risk management measures, business continuity and disaster recovery plans, and report specified incidents and disruptions to IMDA.
The Bill complements the Cybersecurity Act by addressing a wider range of operational risks, including technical failures and physical or operational incidents that could disrupt digital services.
In terms of sustainability, data centres with a critical IT load of at least 3MW will be licensed under the environmental regime. The first step involves meeting facility-level energy efficiency requirements, specifically Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) standards, for both existing and new data centres. The framework also allows for additional requirements related to IT equipment and water efficiency to be introduced through consultation with industry stakeholders.
Strategic, economic, and green energy commitments made in exchange for new data centre capacity can be enforced as licence conditions, ensuring accountability and broader value creation for Singapore. Given the limited national resources in Singapore, including land and power, this approach aims to optimize the use of these resources.
MDDI and IMDA conducted a public consultation on the draft Bill from July 1 to 22, with 25 respondents providing feedback on implementation. The Ministry stated that the feedback has been incorporated into the process and that licensing and reporting procedures will be streamlined, existing industry standards will be recognized where possible, and sufficient transition time will be provided for existing data centres.
Ultimately, the legislation seeks to strengthen the foundations supporting Singapore's digital economy and its ambitions in artificial intelligence.
Written by urgent.news from Mothership's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
